


till the sun rises (we'll keep burning)

by boogyu (transming)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Dragons, Fae & Fairies, Fantasy, Fluff, Ghosts, M/M, Magic, Merpeople, Mystery, Mythology References, Reincarnation, Slow Burn, Vampires, Werewolves, Witchcraft, all seventeen members appear in one or more chapters but the tagged members are the main five, also so many idol cameos im so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-05-14 11:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transming/pseuds/boogyu
Summary: Seungkwan is sort of killed by the cute guy who offered to walk him home and doesn't know what he's supposed to do when he wakes up in a barn the next day, very much Not Dead.





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> if you're new here: hello! welcome to whatever this is
> 
> updates will be all over the place and this is looking to be roughly 15-18 chapters long so buckle up kiddos! 
> 
> **!! content warning for this first chapter: vague descriptions of temporary character death, lil bit of blood, multiple injuries, basically seungkwan just goes through a lot !!**

Boo Seungkwan is completely normal. He’s in his second year of uni, owns a one bedroom apartment and works part time at a coffee shop. Okay, maybe he doesn’t know his parents and his closest relatives are his older sisters. And maybe he was abandoned as a kid and adopted into a nice family that's only slightly dysfunctional. But he’s mostly normal.

Boo Seungkwan also believes in magic. He daydreams about demonic rituals during long lectures and draws mermaid tales on napkins in lulls at work. He’s been obsessed with fantasy stories since his sisters started reading him their fairy books as kids. But he considers that still fairly normal.

Boo Seungkwan also has a literal soulmate. His name is Vernon, and he’s a ghost. Their souls are bonded together, probably permanently, and he can borrow Seungkwan’s life energy to project into a corporeal form. He can also talk to Seungkwan in his head when he’s not corporeal. They’ve been bonded for as long as they can remember and he’s Seungkwan’s biggest secret and best friend.

Okay, so maybe he’s not completely normal after all.

 

☆

 

_“‘Kwan, wake up.”_ Vernon’s voice echoes around his head, slightly muffled under his swimming thoughts but clear enough to break his concentration. _“Party’s over, it’s time to go home.”_

Seungkwan blinks languidly and pulls himself into a sitting position. He feels relaxed and boneless and a little bit like he’s flying. Turns out, he’s just rewound time to the point of his life where his spine was undeveloped. In other words, he’s lost the ability to sit up. His nose hits the carpet as he topples forward and Vernon laughs at him so hard he can _feel_ it bouncing around his head.

"Alright dude, I’m cutting you off." Someone hooks their hands under his armpits and pulls him up. His head lolls to the side and a bubble of drunken giggles pops and fizzes up his throat into the stale air. “Mingyu, can you hold him for a second?” The voice says and someone hums behind him.

He’s maneuvered around to rest against something warm and solid, his head automatically burying further into the comfortable warmth and eyes slipping closed again.

“Hey, come on, you can’t sleep here.” A warm hand lightly slaps his exposed cheek and he whines petulantly.

“Fuck off.” He slurs, tongue heavy. “Just leave me here to die.”

“God okay you’re really drunk.” The voice seems to come from every direction at once, so close he can’t quite discern it’s source.

“Here,” The voice from before returns, the pitch slightly higher than the other making it easy to distinguish the difference, even for someone as out of it as Seungkwan, “Make him drink this. I’m gonna try find Moonbin, I think they came together.”

He’s manhandled back into a sitting position with hands on his back and waist, the movement making something in his head slosh around uncomfortably.

“Come on, drink up.” A cool glass is pressed against his tingling lips and he whines again and tries to avoid it. The hands at his back stop him from moving too far away and eventually he relents and opens his mouth. He clinks his teeth on the glass in the process but his mouth is numb so he barely flinches. The cool water soothes the burning in his throat. When he’s finished the glass he finds the energy to open his eyes and after blinking lazily against the dim lighting he can finally see through his fuzzy vision enough to make out a figure in front of him. The glass sits next to a strong looking thigh, condensation forming a puddle on the wooden floor.

He drags his eyes up and sobers up slightly. The man sitting in front of him is ridiculously handsome. There aren’t enough adjectives in his brain to describe how pretty he thinks he is and there’s no way people like him actually exist outside fashion magazines. He's rendered speechless for all of ten seconds before the guy opens his mouth and ruins it.

One thing to know about Drunk Seungkwan is that he’s even more sensitive than Normal Seungkwan and takes offense to literally everything. So when the guy asks “Do you remember where you are and what your name is?” (like any friendly stranger would upon discovering someone so intoxicated and disoriented), Vernon’s small _uh oh_ gets lost in the roar of drunken fury that washes over Seungkwan.

“Ya, do you think I’m stupid?!” He yells, startling the guy so much he knocks over the glass beside him, the cup making a sharp sound as it topples over. “I may be drunk but I have- still- all of my brainsss, asshole.” His words come out so slurred he kind of forgets what he was trying to say in the first place. “My name is Boo. Seung. Kwan. and you,” he sticks a finger into the guys chest, so hard it bends painfully but he ignores it and powers through, “just made yourself an- anemone.”

He watches through heavy eyelids as the guy blinks once, caught off guard. Then, to Seungkwan's ultimate displeasure, the guy laughs. Not normal, loud, frat-boy laughter but something warm and genuine. And even though he’s laughing _at_ Seungkwan, it makes something in his chest tingle happily to hear it.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Boo Seungkwan,” he says through laughter, repeating his name in a mocking manner, “I’m Kim Mingyu, your new anemone.”

Then he offers up a hand to shake. Seungkwan huffs indignantly and crosses his arms in front of his chest. 

_“‘Kwannie,”_ Vernon scolds, _“Play nice.”_

“You play nice, I don’t have to do anything.” He argues back, speaking over Vernon's warning of _“ Stop talking out loud you idiot, you look insane.”_

“‘Gyu,” he recognises the voice from earlier but he doesn’t recognise the face of the guy who walks up to them, cutting Mingyu off just as he opens his mouth to say something. “I couldn’t find Moonbin but Dongmin lives in the same building and he gave me the address. Do you mind walking him home? I would but-”

“I know, it’s okay.” Mingyu says, laughing again. Always laughing. “I got it, don’t worry. I’ll make sure he gets home safe.” He flashes a megawatt grin that seems to reassure the other guy since he flashes one back and turns to leave in a hurry without another word. Mingyu turns back to him, still smiling.

“Think you can walk?”

 

☆

 

Seungkwan regrets a lot of things.

The first: letting Moonbin of all people talk him into attending a house party. Seriously, what the hell was he thinking trusting the guy who’s notorious for cancelling plans and sleeping in a different bed every night? He should have known he’d be ditched within the first hour of the party, left to hang awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen surrounded by complete strangers. 

The second is not listening to Vernon. This one is pretty recurring because he’s stubborn and Vernon still hasn’t figured out how to make him listen when he really should. Tonight alone he regrets ignoring Vernon’s suggestions of staying home, going home, sticking to beer, stopping after his fifth beer and staying away from that weird punch that definitely won’t sit right in his stomach. Vernon either gave up after that or he got too drunk to remember any more.

The third and biggest regret he has is not drinking more. Which sounds a little contradicting given his last point but he has his reasons. One of them being that if he’d managed to drink enough to knock himself out completely then he wouldn’t be stuck on a half hour long walk home in the beginning of autumn with legs that are wobbly and alcohol that is quickly leaving his system thanks to his increased circulation and the brisk night air. Even more, he wouldn’t be forced to endure the awkward silence that comes with sobering up and the dawning realisation that the guy walking him home is ridiculously cute and way out of his league.

He stumbles a little, lost in thought, and feels Mingyu’s eyes on him.

“Are you sure you’re okay to walk? I don’t mind carrying you.” He offers. Seungkwan makes the mistake of glancing back at him and spots his broad chest. He vaguely remembers how solid it felt under him. His face flushes hot, and he avoids the next four streetlights in a desperate attempt to hide it.

“I’m fine.” He mutters. He focuses all his rapidly depleting energy on walking, one foot in front of the other. His alcohol soaked brain is drying up, leaving a dull ache that he knows from previous experience will be a million times worse in the morning. Mingyu hums, not believing him in the slightest.

He manages three angry steps to prove to Mingyu and himself that he _can_ walk before his right leg decides to tap out and he goes sprawling across the cold pavement. He grazes the skin of his knees and slices his hand on a piece of glass as he tries to break the fall, letting out a yell at the sharp pain across his palm.

“Fuck.” he moans miserably and tries to push himself up. The fall had stirred up the heavy feeling in his head again, the alcohol giving one last dying kick and his stomach churning angrily in response. He struggles to pull himself up for a few seconds before he remembers Mingyu and feels his drunken rage well up again.

“I’m fine thanks for ask-” He’s cut off as he’s suddenly pinned to the ground, strong hands on his wrists tight and making him unable to move. He gasps in pain as the fingers dig in further and locks eyes with Mingyu hovering over him.

Mingyu’s eyes were a warm, inviting brown, Seungkwan definitely remembers this. So his slow intoxicated brain can’t figure out why the eyes he’s looking at can belong to the friendly boy he met at a party, who offered to take him home, even though they’re complete strangers, when they’re now a set of eyes with irises that glow like the streetlights above and are filled with something he doesn’t want to acknowledge as hunger. As if the glowing eyes aren’t enough, Mingyu tips forward, mouth opening on a snarl, and reveals two sets of very sharp fangs.

When he left the house five hours ago this was not how he expected his night to go.

He has never been more sober in his life. His heart kick-starts after missing several beats, pumping adrenaline faster than he can process how fast his night took a turn. He’s helplessly aware of how empty the streets are and how if he screamed he doubted anyone in the neighbourhood would notice. Technically _he_ is always a _we_ , but Vernon is just a disembodied spirit who can’t touch anything in the human world beside Seungkwan’s left hand. So for once he might as well be on his own.

Mingyu’s eyes leave his and focus to the right of his head where he’s still got his bleeding hand pinned down. He can feel the blood gathering in his palm and slowly trickling onto the ground.

“I don’t want to do this.” Mingyu admits, voice strained. His face remains blank, the only emotion betrayed in the fire in his eyes. Despite his words, his tongue flicks out to lick his bottom lip and he doesn't look away from his hand. Seungkwan struggles to swallow over the lump in his dry throat and loses his voice somewhere along the way.

(He also really hates the small part of his brain, the section not overrun with thoughts of fear and overwhelming dread, that chooses this moment to start comparing Mingyu to Edward Cullen.

_Now is not the fucking time_ he yells at himself, internally. When he said he’d die a Twihard he didn’t mean it literally.)

He’s scared and he doesn’t know what to do but he was never taught how to fight and he doesn’t think he stands a chance anyway. He wants to ask Vernon for help but Vernon is scarily quiet and his absence has never scared Seungkwan as much as it does as he stares death in the face. Then Mingyu’s biting down into his palm and his heart stutters, all thoughts of Vernon fizzling away with the overwhelming sensation.

There’s no venom searing hot through his veins, burning him from the inside out and forcing the blood from his veins. Instead it’s cold: everything is. It’s like the chill from the pavement overtakes him until he’s full body shivering. He can feel the blood leaving his body, like icy cold rope dragging through his arteries. It’s the worst by his throat where it feels like blunt nails scratching at the inside of his throat, making it difficult to breathe or think of anything besides the overwhelming discomfort. His head feels waterlogged and heavy, heavier than it has been all night.

He feels his muscles start to relax and his eyes slip closed. Slowly but surely the uncomfortable sensation starts to fade and a strong sense of serenity washes over him.

_“Seungkwan..”_ Vernon’s voice, finally, faint and quieter than he’s ever heard it, _“I'm sorry, I'll see you on the other side, I promise.”_

He manages to find his own voice, clawing at the last dredges of energy he has to speak. “See you soon Vern’.”

And everything fades to black.

  


☆

 

Images of the golden rays of light of the early dawn tickle the edge of his consciousness. A hushed whisper of a memory, words laced with confusion and surprise fading rapidly as he wakes up, the meaning of them lost to oblivion. He free-falls back into the land of the living, sitting up with a gasping breath before his body hits the ground.

He’s more disoriented than he’s ever felt in his life, mind racing a million miles an hour to figure out where he is and why he’s not lying in his own bed. Instead he’s sitting on a straw covered wooden floor in a barn. It’s the kind he’s seen in American TV shows, the beams of the roof home to an array of bird nests. The sun shines through the gaps of the walls, but a hole in the roof above sends a beam shining directly onto the patch of ground where he's sitting. The placement of the hole in relation to the position of the sun is so eerily perfect there’s no way he isn't dreaming. But there’s a dull ache in the back of his head and a dryness in his throat that feels like he hasn’t drank anything in days, so he has to be awake.

Slowly he starts to remember what happened, the memories steadily returning to him. He finally grasps the situation he’s in and feels the panic take hold.

“Vernon?” He yells, unable to feel his presence.

“I’m right here.” A cold, familiar hand wraps around his own and he almost cries in relief. His body is starting to tremble, the overwhelming emotions coupled with a large side of incomprehension making everything feel too much too soon.

“What happened?” 

“I don’t know.” Vernon replies. It’s the most serious he’s ever seen him, not a hint of the carefree soul he’s used to. He’s shaking his head, like he’s still trying to wrap his head around it, eyes wide. “It doesn’t make any sense- when he stopped you were-”

He waits for him to finish, a cold sense of dread washing over him.

“Seungkwan I think you died.”

His stomach drops right through the floor, blood running cold.

“But I- How-”

He cuts himself off at the sound of footsteps and muffled voices coming closer, right behind the thin wall in front of him. He panics, survival instincts taking over, and drags Vernon behind a large stack of hay, careful to make as little noise as possible. He holds his breath as the footsteps stop right in front of the door and strains his ears to catch some of the muffled conversation.

“I just don’t understand how you managed to get yourself into so much trouble the one night I was away.” The speaker has a low voice and it's filled with irritation and exasperation.

“I know, I’m sorry Wonwoo. I really don’t know what happened.” The second voice sounds familiar in a way that makes the hair at the back of Seungkwan's neck stand straight. He definitely knows that voice. There’s a deep sigh and when the first voice speaks again, it’s gentle and concerned.

“I know Gyu. We’ll figure this out, don’t worry. And don’t beat yourself up too much.” As he finishes his sentence the large barn door swings open and Seungkwan holds his breath, anxiety thrumming steadily through his veins. From where he’s hiding he can see their shadows cast on the wall beside him, dark menacing shapes looming over him. He squeezes Vernon’s hand as hard as possible before nodding at him, a silent signal, and Vernon disapparates immediately. He feels his comforting presence settle in the back of his mind, their bond now at its strongest. He can hear the confusion of the two figures and knows he has to act fast. He quickly scans the surrounding area but finds nothing except more wooden paneling and stacks of hay. There’s a ladder leading to a loft area, but climbing it would put him in plain sight. It’s a helpless realisation that his only escape is through the door they’re still standing in front of.

And it’s a fear-inducing realisation that he can no longer hear the two voices, nor see their shadows on the wall.

He comes to many conclusions in half a second and holds tight onto the one that gives him an ounce of hope; his exit is clear. He ignores speculations of where they are and lets his adrenaline propel him out of his hiding spot, aiming straight for the wide open double doors leaking sunshine and freedom.

In his mind, he’s the hare, faster than anything. But to what really matters, he’s the tortoise. And he’s not winning this race.

He gets one foot through the door and is thrown sideways, slamming against the ground hard enough that he sees white for a second. Something in his shoulder snaps, a burning pain quickly spreading across his entire left side. There's a heavy body on top of him pushing him further into the ground and when it moves he feels something move in his shoulder that he knows shouldn't be moving. 

“Wonwoo get off him!” The body disappears faster than he can blink and is replaced by a familiar face, hovering further away this time but triggering a flood of unwanted memories all the same. His eyes are the warm brown he barely remembers from the party, completely drowning in concern and guilt this time.

“Are you okay?” He asks, voice careful. It’s the worst thing he could have asked when Seungkwan is seconds away from a nervous breakdown.

“Do I fucking look okay?” He gasps at a fresh stab of pain and clutches his shoulder, trying to alleviate it. It doesn’t help at all and his eyes begin to tear up from pain, frustration and embarrassment. He tries to push himself up but his good arm gives out and he almost eats dirt. Almost, because a hand shoots out and catches him when he’s inches away from the floor, eyes squeezed closed in anticipation.

“Come on let’s get you inside.” Mingyu mumbles above him. “We can fix you up in there, I promise.”

He squirms away from Mingyu’s hands, breathing through the hot pain the movement causes.

"If you want to kill me just do it here and make it fast.” He’s pleading now, voice broken and desperate. Everything hurts, he’s confused and lost and just wants all of it to stop.

“We’re not gonna kill you.” The other voice, Wonwoo, joins in. He’s standing in the doorway, huddled close to it like he’s trying to give Seungkwan distance but still guarding the exit in case he tries to escape again. “We mean you no harm, I’m sorry.”

Somehow, Seungkwan finds the energy to scoff.

“It was an accident, I swear.” Wonwoo explains weakly. He almost looks like he’s sulking now, arms crossed petulantly and mouth frowning.

“And I suppose you killing me was an accident too huh? Blood lust is a bitch right?”

“Yes!” Mingyu says hurriedly, “I know you won’t believe me and I don’t blame you but I swear I’m telling the truth.” He’s rambling nervously, a trait that doesn’t match with the merciless killer category Seungkwan had thrown him in the minute Vernon told him what happened. He almost seems to genuinely care about what Seungkwan thinks of him, his expression open and vulnerable as he kneels over him.

“Wait.” Wonwoo interrupts. “How do we know he was a human when you killed him?”

Seungkwan almost laughs at how ridiculous that is. But Mingyu starts backing away, suddenly cautious.

“Actually, how do we know he died in the first place?” Wonwoo continues. His body is tense now like he’s waiting for Seungkwan to attack.

“But there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed.” Mingyu responds, voice laced with doubt. “And I felt his heart stop, there’s no way he could fake that, right?” He looks up at Wonwoo for confirmation and backs away further when Wonwoo doesn’t reply.

“Um, just in case either of you wanted my input, I’m a completely normal human.” He feels a little ridiculous, lying on the ground with a broken collarbone, completely vulnerable, with two vampires staring at him like _he’s_ a threat to their safety.

_“Well, not completely.”_ Vernon mutters. Seungkwan resists the urge to tell him to _shut up, now’s not the time Vernon, our lives are hanging in the balance_. Vernon goes quiet in a way that Seungkwan knows means he understands anyway.

“Besides talking to yourself you mean? And that weird aura that follows you around?” Mingyu interrupts. Seungkwan panics, caught, and watches helplessly as Wonwoo takes another step closer.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tries to subtly wiggle his body backwards without drawing attention to himself. The pain in his side has dulled to a faint throbbing and thankfully the movement doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it did earlier. He blames it on the adrenaline, though something doesn’t feel quite right about that reasoning.

“You can see it too right?” Mingyu says to Wonwoo, who nods after a moment.

“It’s like he’s possessed, but he seems completely normal.”

“It could be a recent ghost, or hes’s been possessed long enough that the ghost has learnt how to blend in.”

“But that still doesn’t explain-”

Seungkwan doesn’t hang around to hear anything else, using Mingyu’s turned back and their conversation as a distraction as another attempted escape opportunity. He rolls onto his stomach and pushes off the ground with his good arm in one movement, bracing himself for the pain to flare up again. His left arm hangs dead at his side as he runs out of the barn. The doubt creeps in again when apart from a stiffness in his shoulder he feels none of the unbearable pain from earlier. 

He’s distracted as he runs, not paying attention to his surroundings, and runs into something solid and way too familiar. He stumbles backwards and is steadied by hands on his arms before he can fall over.

“Your shoulder…” Mingyu mutters, wide eyes focused on where Seungkwan knows there was a piece of bone protruding out of the skin just ten minutes ago. He glances down hazily, energy drained, and spots nothing. He prods at the skin with his fingers and feels nothing.

He looks back up at Mingyu, feels his lips stretch into a manic grin, feels completely overwhelmed, and promptly collapses into Mingyu’s chest.

And for the second time in 24 hours, he feels nothing as everything fades to black.

 

☆

 

When he wakes, he’s on a couch. It’s soft but smells musty and when he cracks his eyes open he spots a horrific floral pattern that can only be described as an eyesore. He groans and rolls onto his back, mind hazy.

“Hey Mingyu, he’s awake.” He hears Wonwoo behind his head and cranes his neck to look up at him. He’s perched in a bay window, the sun of late afternoon shining behind him. A small part of Seungkwan is disappointed to find that vampires don’t glitter in his universe.

“Oh hey, how are you feeling?” Mingyu walks in with a glass of water and a pill capsule. Alarm bells immediately go off in his head and he sits up straight, on high alert. Mingyu seems to notice and glances down at his hands. “You don’t have to take these.” He explains hurriedly, placing the pills and water on the coffee table in front of Seungkwan. “We won’t force you, but if your shoulder still hurts these should help.”

He takes a seat in the armchair across from Seungkwan, flashing him a nervous but sincere flash of a smile, and Seungkwan belatedly remembers his manners.

“Thank you.” He mutters. It still hasn’t properly sunk in that Mingyu - and, statistically speaking, probably Wonwoo - is a vampire. A bloodthirsty creature from the YA novels he’s been reading since he was a prepubescent with more imagination than he had friends. And if vampires exist then who knows what else in his fantasy novels are real, how many of them he may have meet unknowingly. It’s a lot to wrap his head around and the overwhelming feeling of earlier has only faded slightly. 

“So, do you have anything you’d like to tell us?” Well, Wonwoo certainly doesn’t beat around the bush.

“I could ask the same of you.” He replies, narrowing his eyes, challenging.

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

“We’re vampires.” Mingyu interrupts. Seungkwan falters for a second, the admission throwing him off balance. It’s nothing he hadn’t already figured out, but hearing it spoken out loud, so concrete and final, hits something deep in his chest.

“I know.” He feels like he needs to clarify. “You’re not exactly subtle.”

“Then what do you want to know?” Mingyu tilts his head slightly as he asks, resembling a curious puppy. Seungkwan looks away but the image is already seared into his brain, and even through his muddled thoughts he's able to hear the unhelpful "wow he's cute" that his brain produces.

His voice is accusing when he asks, “Did you turn me?”

Both of them shake their heads immediately. “Neither of us could even if we wanted to.” Wonwoo explains. He waits for a further explanation and is hardly surprised when he isn't given one.

“Alright,” He’s quickly running out of patience and the piles of questions keep building. “Let’s just make this easier on all of us. Do either of you know anything about the vampires in pop culture?”

Wonwoo nods, Mingyu shakes his head.

“Great. Explain your vampire laws to me then. Who got it right? Pike? Meyer? Stoker?”

Wonwoo hums in thought, mulling it over in his head. Mingyu looks completely lost, eyes wide as he looks between the two of them waiting for an explanation.

“All of them, in certain aspects.” Wonwoo eventually decides on. “The most popular ideas like superhuman strength, speed, senses etc are all pretty on par. Surviving on blood sustenance, obviously, though we can eat human food too. Oh, and we have daylight rings.”

He holds up his left hand to show off a thick ring sitting above his third knuckle. It’s made of a dark metal with a pearly blue and white stone insert that swirls in the sunlight. He squints to make out the finer details and finds the metal curves into tiny gold roses and leaves around the stone. He looks over at Mingyu, who holds his own left hand up immediately. His is similar, the same stone insert and gold roses, but his metal is more of a soft silver and the ring isn’t quite as chunky as Wonwoo’s. It looks natural on Mingyu’s delicate hand. Pretty.

“Where did you get yours?” Mingyu asks and points down at where Seungkwan’s hands lay in his lap. He frowns, mouth open to argue that he doesn’t wear rings, but the words die on his tongue as he looks down and spots a ring that he’s never seen before sitting neatly in the middle of his left hand like it’s always been there. It’s small and oddly shaped, resembling the uneven growth of a tree branch but bent into a ring shape. The metal is a bright bronze that matches the dark amber coloured stone. Now that he’s focusing on it, he can feel how unnaturally warm the ring is and how it seems to glisten even out of direct sunlight.

“Okay, I’m flattered, but at least take me out to dinner first.” He grabs hold of it and tugs. Nothing happens. He tries again, but the ring doesn’t budge even in the slightest. It’s not tight, it should be able to slide right off, but he can’t even twist it.

“This isn’t funny.” He huffs in frustration. Mingyu frowns and finally gets off the armchair. He reaches a hand down to help, Seungkwan holding his own out in defeat, and both jump in shock when Mingyu gently touches the ring, yelps and jumps five feet in the air like a frightened cat, clutching his hand to his chest.

“What just happened?” Wonwoo asks, rushing to Mingyu.

“It burnt me.” Mingyu hisses, blowing on his palm where it touched Seungkwan. Leaning closer he can see a small red blister starting to form.

“Let me see that.” Wonwoo doesn’t reach for Seungkwan’s hand so he holds it up for him to get a better look.

“I’m gonna call Soonyoung.” He announces, eyes wide. “That’s a sun stone, don’t touch it again.” He instructs Mingyu and leaves the room without another word.

Mingyu sits back on the arm chair, poking carefully at the slowly healing blister and pouting to himself. Seungkwan watches, a million more questions joining the mountains in his head, and finally accepts that he’s not getting answers any time soon.

So he asks a simple one, one he prays will give him a straightforward answer for once.

“Do you have any tea?”

Mingyu smiles and it feels like a breath of fresh air.


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan ticks the metaphorical “Strange and Mysterious Vibe” box on his “Vampire Cliches That Have Some Basis of Reasoning” list. He glances over at Mingyu, playing with a strand of hair hanging in the middle of his forehead, wide brown doe eyes crossed in the dumbest way, and draws a big red question mark next to the box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did someone say... lore?

It’s painfully quiet. The sun is setting outside, the last rays of sun highlighting the dust particles floating in the tense air between them. Seungkwan’s mind is still racing with questions and he’s sure his nervous energy is palpable. 

"I'm not possessed." He blurts when the tension gets to be too much. Wonwoo raises a brow at him. "Okay, yes, I have a ghost but we're separate entities, he doesn't control me." 

"His name is Vernon." He continues when the room remains silent. On cue, he feels the telltale pressure on his right hand and turns to find Vernon sitting beside him, looking just as nervous as himself. Someone curses under their breath and when Seungkwan looks back, both vampires are wearing matching expressions of shock.

"How is that possible?" Mingyu whispers. 

"I don’t know." He answers, though the question may have been rhetorical. "He’s been with me for as long as I can remember." The small glint of hope of finally getting answers, of finally understanding what Vernon means to him and why they're connected, dies when both Wonwoo and Mingyu remain speechless.

"Ugh. Don’t tell me this is uncommon in your world too." Vernon bemoans, speaking Seungkwan's thoughts word for word. “I really thought we were gonna get answers." 

"I’ve never heard of anything like this." Wonwoo explains, tone apologetic. "Ghosts in our world are as mysterious and isolated as they are in the human world. The only magicals they interact with are necromancers and they’re just as secretive."

"Great." Vernon huffs. Seungkwan hates to see him so discouraged, so like a kicked puppy his overprotective instincts kick in. He squeezes their hands together and accepts Vernon’s grateful half-smile for what it’s worth. 

"This is kinda cool." Mingyu admits, eyes wide in child-like wonder. "Can you explain a bit more? How do you apparate? What does it feel like?" He pauses, faltering, his voice going quiet. "Are you always with Seungkwan?" 

They all collectively pick up on the real meaning of Mingyu's last question and the tension in the room returns tenfold. 

"Well it kinda feels like, I don’t know, this might sound dumb but-" Seungkwan squeezes Vernon’s hand again in encouragement. "It kinda feels like our souls are like, connected. Like I can feel where mine ends and his starts but it's kinda fuzzy. So when I apparate there's like a… pull? Like my soul doesn't wanna be too far away from Seungkwan's. That's why I have to hold ‘Kwan's hand when I apparate, otherwise the pull is too much." 

"I feel it too." Seungkwan agrees. "And when he's not in this form I can feel his soul floating around my chest." 

"Yeah and when I’m like that I just hang out in Seungkwan's brain and talk to him and stuff. I can't read Seungkwan's thoughts though so that’s why he sounds like he talks to himself sometimes." 

"I see. This does explain a lot." Wonwoo hums. "It could have explained why Seungkwan came back to life if not for the sudden fast-healing abilities he’s gained since then." 

While it's a nice thought, Vernon keeping him alive even through death, he doubts that's something they're capable of. Wonwoo nods to himself, seemingly satisfied with Seungkwan's explanation. He exhales, glad the conversation didn’t take nearly as long as he thought it would. 

"Your turn." he says and makes himself comfortable, nervous energy replaced with the excitement of learning about a new world. Except tenfold because this is _his_ world and he gets to live in it this time, isn’t restricted by ink on paper and the limits of his own imagination.

It’s with a heavy, bone-deep sigh that Wonwoo looks at him and asks, “What do you want to know first?” 

His mind races through all the different creatures he wants to learn about, all the lore and laws and history. There’s too much to choose from.

“How about you just start from the beginning?” He eventually decides on. "Where did vampires originate from?" 

Origin stories of mythological creatures, as far as Seungkwan has learnt, tend to involve a lot of common lore and restrictions in their tales. If he learns the origin stories it’ll be easier for him to distinguish myth from fact. 

Wonwoo looks like he’s suppressing another sigh. He purses his lips and nods once, sitting up straighter. 

“It started as they all do: with an idiotic human falling in love with an immortal.” Wonwoo pauses at the unimpressed glare Seungkwan sends him. “No offense. Anyway, a man fell in love with the moon goddess. She loved him back for although he was human, he had been blessed from birth with god-like beauty. In order for them to be together, he had to defeat her seven brothers. He was a skilled fighter but he was still a human going up against Gods. Therefore the goddess had her mother watch over him and, should he be defeated by any of the brothers, he would be resurrected at a price. He defeated the first and second brothers and received the gifts of superhuman speed and strength as rewards. He was slain by the third brother and cursed to never be able to walk in sunlight again. He went on to defeat the fourth and fifth brothers and received eternal beauty and super senses. He was slain by the sixth brother and cursed with a thirst for human blood. And finally, the last brother spared him before he took his dying breath and granted him immortality, a gift to be with his goddess lover but a curse to watch the rest of his family die while he lived on eternally."

Wonwoo pauses to give them time to process the story. He continues after a few seconds, slightly more tense.

"They went on to have countless children, all of which shared the man’s supernatural abilities.”

“Vampires.” Seungkwan says.

Wonwoo nods. “Vampires.” He fidgets uncomfortably. “There’s more though.”

He glances over at Mingyu, quick but not fast enough for Seungkwan not to notice. 

“These First vampires lived in a time when the world was overrun by gods and humans alike and many more magical creatures were coming into existence. It was a time of war and bloodshed and many innocent humans were targeted. Because of this, the Titan Gods - the rulers of the Gods - punished many of the magical creatures and demigods of the time. The First vampires were greedy, prideful and heartless. Because of this, most of them ended up killing each other in war and revenge. When the Titan Gods decided to intervene there were only three left. The moon goddess bargained for their lives, begged the Titan Gods to spare her children. They agreed but the gift of creating new vampires was stripped from all turned humans, reserved only for the First vampires to ensure vampirism was somewhat contained. Furthermore, the god of hunting was instructed to create a race of magical hunters whose sole purpose was keeping the vampires in line. From then on, if a human was killed or turned against their will, the vampire who did it would be hunted and killed." 

“Wait but the- Titan Gods? They just let the First vampires off the hook just like that?” 

“No, there were other punishments specific to each vampire. The first, who had drank from thousands of humans and turned them into blood slaves, was cursed to never be able to drink from a human ever again, forced to survive on the blood of animals. Another, who had created an entire clan of offspring to do their bidding and had destroyed whole villages with their power, had their bloodline turn on them and was left alone for the rest of eternity. And the last, who’s worst crime was falling in love with the wrong person, had their soulmate stripped of their immortality and was forced to watch them grow old, powerless to stop the flow of time.”

“Oof.” Seungkwan says, and means it. “Good to know human belief systems didn’t give the Gods a bad name for nothing.” 

“That’s fucked.” Vernon agrees.

“It is what it is.” Mingyu shrugs but his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Anyway, now you know the basics of vampire history. Have your 2000 word essay on my desk by Monday.” 

“Very funny.” Seungkwan deadpans and thinks it’s just a little childish the way Mingyu sticks his tongue out in response. Something about Mingyu’s reaction to the First vampire story makes him think there’s more to the vampire than he originally thought. Though, he supposes that’s just something that comes with living several hundred years longer than humans. Which reminds him-

“How old are you?” He blurts before he can think better of it. “And don’t say 17.” He tacts on, ignoring Vernon’s amused snort. 

“I’m an immortal being I have no concept of time.”  Wonwoo says, completely serious. Mingyu tilts his head as he contemplates, eyes to the ceiling. It’s ridiculously endearing. Seungkwan is starting to think that everything he does is endearing, and wonders if it’s just him who thinks that. “Maybe 600? Give or take a few decades.” 

“See, ‘Kwan, I told you 22 wasn’t that old.” Vernon skillfully dodges the arm swiped at him, giggling like the devil he is. 

“Easy for you to say you don’t even have a body.” He pinches him in the side and swipes at the retaliating hand before he can fall victim to the same treatment. 

Mingyu’s laughter catches him off guard, cutting their argument short. Seungkwan feels his face heat up for an unknown reason and decides to change the subject. Mingyu’s eyes are sparkling with mirth and it’s incredibly distracting so he directs his gaze at Wonwoo. The view isn’t much better; furrowed brows and a seemingly permanent look of disdain but it’s better than the confusing whirlwind of emotions that looking at Mingyu brings. 

“Follow up question. Why doesn’t the human world know anything? By the sounds of it the magical world wasn’t exactly in hiding.” 

Wonwoo answers. “They used to, but with all the wars fought between magical creatures and humankind the magical community decided to cut off all contact, enforced precautions to ensure the safety of humankind and that no human ever found out about their lost history.” 

"Obviously that didn’t work, you still ended up in history books." Vernon laughs. 

"True, but there are only a handful of truths in their stories. The Titan Gods ensured no more than two stories ever lined up with each other to guarantee the community remained in secret." Wonwoo explains. He looks more relaxed now that the bulk of the storytelling has passed.

“So then are there magical beings just living amongst humans and no one has any idea?” Seungkwan asks. He thinks of his neighbour growing up and how he had let Park Minhyuk from across the street convince him she was a witch. 

“There are some, but most of us choose to live outside of human areas.”Wonwoo responds. Seungkwan remains suspicious of his neighbour anyway.

“So the human world and magical world are divided perfectly evenly." Mingyu continues. "The human world has countries, right? And between each human country is a magical one. Right now we’re in the Blue Mountain region on the border dividing our country and yours.” 

“Wait but I don’t live anywhere near a border.”

“Sometimes the countries overlap. There are magical glamours to stop humans from accidentally stumbling into the wrong country, and in the case that the areas overlap they’ll teleport the human across to the next part of the human area without them noticing a thing.” 

Seungkwan blinks rapidly then grimaces. “My brain hurts.” 

“That makes two of us.” Wonwoo mumbles. 

“Sorry,” Mingyu says sheepishly, “I know it’s a lot to process.”

“No it’s- it’s fine. My brain is on overload as it is what else could happen?” As the words leave his mouth, there’s a knock on the front door and a cold sense of dread fills his stomach. 

“That’ll be Soonyoung.” Wonwoo announces as he gets up and breezes out of the room on vampire legs. Seungkwan doesn’t have time to ask Mingyu to remind him who Soonyoung is because Wonwoo breezes back into the room just as quick as he left, this time with a thin baby blue jacket that he hangs carefully on the back of his chair. He dusts his hands off on his jeans afterwards, a look of distaste as specks of gold glitter float to the ground. 

“Wonwoo, it’s rude to leave your guest at the front door.” A boy with watermelon pink hair walks into the room on a pair of bare feet, leaving dirty footprints on the wooden flooring behind him. The golden glitter Wonwoo was wiping off his hands is sprinkled all over his skin, which has a suspicious green tint and is just as dirt-flecked as his feet. Seungkwan squints and confirms that the flowers along his forearms are indeed growing directly out of the skin.

The real kicker is the set of pink lemonade coloured eyes that lock onto his as soon as he finishes speaking. There are no pupils at all, just large pink circles floating in pools of white, gazing over Seungkwan with curiosity. He feels dizzy again.

“Oh, is that the human?” Soonyoung, he assumes, tilts his head much the same as Mingyu does as he looks Seungkwan up and down. He spots movement over Soonyoung’s exposed shoulder; a flurry of gold, translucent but sparkling under the artificial lighting. Wings.

“You’re a fairy.” It’s more of a statement than a question, but he can never be sure because last he checked fairies were the imaginary creatures of his favourite childhood books and not standing five feet away and looking at him like _he’s_ the weird one. 

“Last I checked.” Soonyoung giggles, nothing like the tinkling of bells he expected. “Ah, and you must be his ghost?” 

Vernon startles at being addressed directly. “Y-yes?”

“This is Vernon.” Seungkwan introduces for him. “I’m Seungkwan.” He adds a beat late. 

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Soonyoung.” Seungkwan tries to stop staring as Soonyoung makes his way further into the room, bypassing all other furniture to perch himself on Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo grunts at the sudden weight but doesn’t protest.

“So, fill me in, what did I miss?” Soonyoung’s bare toes dig into Wonwoo’s thigh and he must be getting dirt all over his jeans but Wonwoo sits still as if Soonyoung isn’t even there. Still, a faint rosy dusting over his cheeks and a hand curling softly over Soonyoung’s waist gives him away. That’s definitely something to dig into later, Seungkwan decides. 

Mingyu fills Soonyoung in and the fairy seems to grasp the severity of the situation rather early on. When Mingyu mentions the ring, Soonyoung’s eyes immediately find the glint of gold on Seungkwan’s hand like he noticed it earlier. 

“I can tell you right now, there’s about a ten percent chance that that’s fae. You can ask Nayoung if you want to be sure, but the magic coming off of it is way too strong to be fae workmanship.” 

Wonwoo hums in agreement. “I thought so too. I think it’d be good to check with Nayoung anyway. She’d have a better idea of who might have made it.”

“Sure babe I’ll let her know you’re coming.” Soonyoung pecks him on the nose, seemingly unaware of the now aggressive flush on the vampire’s cheeks. Still, Wonwoo doesn’t move. Seungkwan ponders for a second, then ticks the metaphorical “Strange and Mysterious Vibe” box on his “Vampire Cliches That Have Some Basis of Reasoning” list. He glances over at Mingyu, playing with a strand of hair hanging in the middle of his forehead, wide brown doe eyes crossed in the dumbest way, and draws a big red question mark next to the box. 

“Wait-” he backpedals as the implication of Wonwoo’s words hit him. “I’d have to go with you then, I can’t take the ring off.” 

“You could always _lend him a hand_.” Vernon isn’t fast enough to dodge the hard smack Seungkwan aims at him this time, though the blow is softened by the smile Seungkwan can’t fight back. Soonyoung laughs like he genuinely found the joke funny, clutching his sides in pain and even Mingyu lets out a few amused chuckles before sobering up.

“Oh, right, your family is probably worried sick about you.” Mingyu at least has the decency to look guilty. Seungkwan’s stomach twists painfully at the thought of his family, unaware of their missing son. Not that it would matter much if they ever found out, he thinks, and is only a little bitter about it. “We should get you back as soon as possible.” Mingyu makes to stand up but is stopped by Wonwoo’s voice.

"Hold on, don't you think it'd be a better idea to keep him here?" He argues. "We still have no idea what caused his rebirth or his fast healing abilities and if he starts developing any new powers while hes in the human world…" 

Mingyu's brows pull together in worry, like the thought hadn't crossed his mind at all.

"That… would be bad." He agrees, glancing back at Seungkwan in concern before reverting his gaze back to Wonwoo. “What should we do then? Just keep him here and wait for the rest of his powers to show up?”

Seungkwan keeps watching, unsure what to say and feeling oddly left out of a conversation revolving entirely around him. 

“That could work.” Wonwoo agrees.

“But that could take years.” Soonyoung interrupts importantly. “It’d be better to ask around the Blue Mountains and actively try to find some answers instead of waiting around on the off chance he develops something obvious like wings or a tail.”

The room falls silent as they all mull over Soonyoung’s words. Mingyu’s frowning deep in concentration, Wonwoo not much better, and Seungkwan knows Vernon well enough to know that he’s definitely imagining Seungkwan with wings. The small, shameless grin on his face when he looks over is confirmation enough.

“That does sound like our best option, but we don’t know how long that could take and I’m sure he has other things to get back to, right?” Mingyu looks back at him.

“Actually..” His thoughts wander to his empty apartment with the broken heating; the workplace he’s been wanting to leave since he got hired half a year ago; his phone, wherever it is, empty of notifications apart from a dozen calls from his boss because no one else would have noticed his disappearance at all. It’s a little suffocating, realising just how sad his life is. When did he get so pathetic? “I wouldn’t mind taking a few weeks off.”  

Mingyu frowns. “The Blue Mountains aren’t safe for humans.” He warns, “And some of the old cities hold grudges against humans to this day. I’m not sure how many of them would be willing to help.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a human then.” He half-jokes.

“No but you were raised as one so it’d be all the same to them.” Mingyu argues without missing a beat.  

“Okay, but you don’t know if it’ll come to that or not.” Soonyoung argues back. The conversation is beginning to resemble a particularly complicated four-person tennis match. “If he can’t even cross the border then he’s still technically a human and there’s nothing we can do about it. Either way, he has a better chance of finding the truth out there than he will stuck here in this dusty vampire sanctuary.” 

“Soonyoung has a point.” Wonwoo finally joins in after watching on in thoughtful silence. Soonyoung whoops triumphantly. “Being around other magicals could trigger some of his powers faster. Also, this house really does need a spring clean.” He adds the last bit as an afterthought, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the layer of dust settled on the end table beside him. Mingyu opens his mouth to argue, closes it, glances between Wonwoo and Soonyoung and finally gives up, whining loudly. 

“Why can't I ever win an argument against you two?” He crosses his arms like a petulant child, looking way too put out than the situation calls for. Soonyoung grins Cheshire-like and high-fives Wonwoo in triumph. “Fine but we need to plan our route. The full moon is coming up and I don’t wanna be caught off-guard.” 

“Of course. Wonwoo and I can make a plan while Seungkwan washes up and you pack for us.” 

Mingyu whines even louder this time. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Because you’re the reason he’s here in the first place.” Wonwoo raises an eyebrow, daring Mingyu to argue. He can’t, so he stays silent, bottom lip heavy in a childish pout. 

“Be a good host and show Seungkwan where the bathroom is.” Soonyoung cackles, hanging off of Wonwoo’s arm and sticking his tongue out when Mingyu glares at him. Wonwoo silently admonishes Soonyoung with a light flick to his forehead, which has the fairy glaring up at him with as much fear inducing rage as angry Tinkerbell. Mingyu laughs and manages to dodge Wonwoo’s grabby hands before he can get the same treatment.

Seungkwan turns to Vernon, finds him already looking back at him, and wonders just what they’ve gotten themselves into. 

 

☆

 

With the loss of adrenaline and the last of his swirling thoughts washing away with the water down the shower drain, Seungkwan finds himself at a bit of a loss. He's, above all else, embarrassed and apologetic towards Mingyu and Wonwoo for several things, but the last thing he wants to do is go home when he’s come this far. Something is telling him he needs to stay, to trust the vampires, that it'd be unsafe for him to return to his normal life like nothing happened. He doesn't know what it is, but his gut is telling him to trust it, so he does. 

Something about the way Soonyoung had reacted when Mingyu told him about last night is bugging him. He had expected disappointment, pity, even pride. What he hadn’t expected was the look of pure, total confusion and worry that he saw instead. Like it was completely unfathomable that Mingyu was capable of killing another living creature. 

Mingyu had said it was an accident though. And spending the last few hours in the company of the vampire had given him time to get to know him better. The selfless, caring guy from the party and the worrying, slightly overbearing vampire from today make sense. What doesn’t make sense is everything in between. If it weren't for Soonyoung's reaction he could chalk it up to blood lust and call it a day. Instead he’s thinking himself in circles trying to figure out what it is he’s missing.

A sharp pain in his hand brings him out of his thoughts, the severity of the situation crashing down on him. He presses a finger into the individual teeth marks and scrubs at the dried blood until his skin is clean. He frowns at the realisation that this wound hasn’t yet healed when all of the others have so far. He wonders what that means.

He had gotten in the shower on autopilot, scrubbed his skin ‘til it flushed red, and finds himself staring at the drain for long enough that the water turns cold. The minute he steps out of the shower a wave of exhaustion hits him, making him yawn so wide his jaw hurts as he wraps a towel around himself. He suppresses a batch of full body shivers as he quickly dries off and gets changed, the pajamas Mingyu picked out for him slightly baggy but more comfortable than the tight jeans he had let Moonbin wrestle him into before the party. He laments the loss of his favourite jacket, torn and bloodied beyond repair. Maybe he’ll ask one of the vamps to burn it for him.

He’s halfway down the hall to the bedroom Mingyu had pointed out earlier when he realises he’s about to spend the night in a house with two ancient vampires who tried to kill him and a fairy that may or may not be dating one of said ancient vampires. He slows, wonders for a second, realises he has nothing to lose, and continues into the bedroom with a shrug.

 _“Are you sure about this ‘Kwan?”_ Vernon asks as he’s pulling back the covers of the bed. He slips in, toes wiggling in the cool sheets. 

“No. But when am I ever sure about anything?” To that Vernon has no reply and Seungkwan’s eyes slip closed. 

“Hey Vern’?” He whispers.

Vernon hums lowly.

Memories of his childhood flash behind his closed eyelids. The excitement of finding a new fairy circle in his backyard, running out on stumpy legs in the cold morning air to get a better look. The irony of making anti-witch potions with Park Minhyuk to ward off any evil magic Seungkwan’s neighbour might have tried to use against them. As a teenager, curled up in a corner of the library while his peers were sharing awkward kisses and tasting their first sips of alcohol, choosing the comfort of his favourite vampire novel and his soulmate reading over his shoulder instead of trying to fit in.

“I was right.” He says. His vision fills with the golden glint of wings, the sharp point of fangs, better than Seungkwan could have imagined. “They’re real. They all are.”

 

☆

 

The next morning Seungkwan wanders into the kitchen, blindly led by his nose following the scent of bacon and eggs, and finds Mingyu standing in front of the stove without a shirt. He promptly backpedals into the hallway and takes three frantic inhales before walking back in and hopes his voice doesn’t sound too strangled when he responds to Mingyu’s friendly “Good morning!” 

“Ew put a shirt on.” Soonyoung grumbles as he walks into the kitchen right after Seungkwan, grabbing a pillow from one of the counter bar stools and lobbing it at Mingyu’s head. Mingyu catches it without looking up from stirring the eggs.

“Jealous much?” He laughs and throws it somewhere in the living room behind them. He doesn’t manage to avoid the shirt thrown at him seconds later, thrown with such force it knocks his head sideways. Soonyoung cackles and wraps himself around Wonwoo in gratitude while Mingyu begrudgingly rips the shirt off his face and fumbles to put it on. Seungkwan silently takes a seat at the closest bar stool, eyeing the array of food dishes spread across the counter. There’s pretty much every breakfast food he can think of; pancakes, waffles, porridge, fruit salad, even three different boxes of breakfast cereal.

“Sorry I didn’t know if you were like, vegan or whatever so I gave you a few options.” Mingyu chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. Seungkwan tries not to look too overwhelmed but it must show on his face because Mingyu backpedals. “Is this weird? I’m sorry I haven’t had a guest over in like a decade or two I’m a little rusty-”

“No it’s- fine.” He forces himself to say, blinking out of his daze. “It’s great, thank you.” He grabs the nearest plate, a stack of pancakes drowning in maple syrup, sprinkled with chopped bananas and strawberries. Truthfully, he doesn’t usually eat breakfast, especially something as substantial as this when his stomach always feels slightly nauseous the first hour after he’s woken up. But Mingyu must have spent hours making this for him and the kicked puppy look makes something in Seungkwan’s chest tighten. 

So he shoves a mouthful of sugar and fruit into his mouth and puts his three years of drama lessons to good use when Mingyu looks over to gauge his reaction. The bright smile he gets in response makes the future stomachache worth it. 

“Interesting.” The lilt to Soonyoung’s voice is dangerous and the mischievous glint in his eye even more so. Thankfully, Wonwoo shuts him up with a look before he can say anything more, deflating in his seat with a huff, pulling over a bowl of fruit salad to start picking at.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Seungkwan asks between mouthfuls. 

 _“Slow down ‘Kwan, you’re gonna make yourself sick.”_ Vernon admonishes as he lifts his fork to his mouth again.  

“Well the fae village is the closest settlement from here so we’ll head there first and talk to Nayoung-”

Seungkwan barely manages to swallow his mouthful without choking. “Fae village?” He near yells, startling Mingyu so much the clump of eggs he was scooping onto a plate get jostled and miss the plate entirely, hitting the kitchen floor with a sad splat. There’s a second of tense silence before Mingyu whines and drops to his knees to start cleaning it up.

“Yes?” Wonwoo says, expression a perfectly mixed cocktail of confusion and judgement. 

He’s being weird, he knows, and feels his face heat up in belated embarrassment. “Sorry.” he stutters out, realising Soonyoung looks vaguely hurt. “It’s just I didn’t think I’d meet more fairies so soon this is… like…” He struggles to find the right word, none of them seem substantial enough to explain the pure, childlike excitement he feels. “ _Really_ cool.” He finishes lamely. Soonyoung beams at him anyway, tension draining from his shoulders as he laughs happily and starts chewing on a strawberry. 

“Wow, I like him. Wonwoo can we keep him?” He drops his strawberry to run over and tug on Seungkwan’s cheek painfully, cooing and ignoring his groans of protest. He spots the ghost of a smile tug at Wonwoo’s lips before he covers it by taking a sip of his tea. Mingyu laughs, loud and carefree, the sound tugging at the corner of Seungkwan’s lips into a smile of his own. 

Seungkwan feels warm and welcome and decides that maybe, just maybe, he can learn to trust these people.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long i had to figure out all the lore before i continued and also sorry that 90% of this chapter was dialogue 
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoyed this pls let me know what you think!


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu straightens up fully and for a second Seungkwan’s head spins at the height difference he'd somehow managed to forget about while Mingyu was crouching. "Yes, but there are no roads where we're going." 
> 
> He blinks. "Did you just quote Back To The Future?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> schadenfreude: the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.
> 
>  
> 
> **!! content warning for this chapter: mentions of throwing up, mentions of blood !!**

“Can I come in?”   
  
Seungkwan startles for a second before pulling his shirt the rest of the way over his head. Wonwoo and Soonyoung had left earlier that morning, for reasons they wouldn’t disclose to Seungkwan, so there’s only one person who could be at the door.

“It’s open.” He calls back and watches in the mirror as Mingyu’s head pops through the doorframe behind him, sandy hair flopping into his eyes where his fringe is slightly overgrown.

“Sorry to interrupt, do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you before we left.” 

Mingyu’s got this earnest look on his face that makes it near impossible to say no. He wonders if the rest of the world faces the same challenge as he does at denying Mingyu the simplest things.

“Sure, what’s up?” 

Mingyu’s face lights up a fraction before he bounds over to the bed behind him, playing with a string on his black sweater and waiting for Seungkwan to join him. He takes a last glance in the mirror, fiddles with his fringe until it sits right and turns to sit next to Mingyu with a sigh that’s more for show than actual annoyance.

“So,” Mingyu starts, suddenly nervous, hesitant. “I know a lot has happened since we met at that party...”

It feels like years ago now, even though he knows it’s been barely 48 hours. 

“I just wanted to apologise. For everything, I guess. I know sorry doesn’t automatically fix things and I would completely understand if you’d rather hate me forever-”

"Mingyu.” He interrupts Mingyu’s rambling, lips curling on their own accord. 

"Sorry.” His face flushes slightly. “Anyway, I hope we can be friends at least?” 

For the nth time in the past 48 hours Seungkwan is caught off guard and unsure how to react. Mingyu seems genuinely apologetic and the larger part of him is telling him to just go with whatever Mingyu wants. 

“I mean…” He pretends to think it over, because making things just slightly difficult for Mingyu is the least he deserves after the shit show Seungkwan’s life has become. But then he makes the mistake of glancing over at Mingyu, all hopeful and wide-eyed and Seungkwan sighs and thinks he really needs to learn how to say no.

“Fine,” He groans, ignoring the leap his heart does when Mingyu’s eyes light up like a child’s on christmas morning. “We can be friends.”

And Mingyu’s smile is so bright it rivals the sun shining through the windows behind his head. Something unknown starts to blossom in Seungkwan’s chest and he’s helpless to stop it, feeling strangely breathless all of a sudden.

☆

 

"What?" 

Seungkwan blinks, unsure what he's missing exactly. It feels like a prank. He's definitely being pranked. 

But Mingyu is completely serious, legs barely straining from his crouched position in front of him. 

"Get on." Mingyu repeats, shifting his weight and backing up minutely closer to Seungkwan. When Mingyu had told him their plans - that they’d be walking to the fae village together while Wonwoo and Soonyoung went ahead earlier and did whatever it was they were doing - Seungkwan had (apparently dumbly) assumed they’d _both_ be walking.

What he hadn’t counted for was three steps out of the front door for Mingyu to crouch down in front of him without a word and expect Seungkwan to understand what he was doing. His mind flashes with images of Bella and Edward and he squashes down the urge to punch Mingyu in the arm because there's no way he's not fucking with him. 

"You want me to climb on your back?" He can hear Vernon's laughter ricocheting around his head, obnoxiously loud and distracting. The words "Hold on, spidermonkey", stuck on a loop, are only slightly drowned out by Vernon. 

"Yes?" Mingyu straightens a little to look back at him. "Unless you wanted to add an extra 8 hours to our travel time today?" 

"No." He splutters. "But- don't you have a car or something?" 

Mingyu straightens up fully and for a second Seungkwan’s head spins at the height difference he'd somehow managed to forget about while Mingyu was crouching. "Yes but there are no roads where we're going." 

He blinks. "Did you just quote Back To The Future?"

Mingyu, despite his infuriatingly perfect demeanor, and to Seungkwan’s utter delight, is, in fact, fully capable of getting flustered. "That's not even the quote.” He sputters, face hot. “And I thought that movie was before your time."

"I was born in the wrong era." He shrugs, grinning.

"Right." Mingyu nods, looks like he doesn’t really understand but doesn’t care enough to ask. "Can you get on my back now?"

Seungkwan bites back his retort - a self-deprecating “Funny, usually people are telling me to get _off_ their backs” - and obliges. He groans louder than necessary when Mingyu lifts him off the ground, thigh muscles straining where they're wrapped around Mingyu's hips. He adjusts the backpack straps around his shoulders, makes sure they wont slip off.

"Comfy?"

"Not in the slightest." He grunts.

Mingyu laughs, carefree and loud, and starts running. 

In the first terrifying moment, he feels like he's going to fly straight off Mingyu's back, his hands and legs slipping at the sudden rush of momentum. In the next moment, Mingyu's hands tighten around his legs and he pushes his body further forward so Seungkwan's weight is completely draped over his back. He breathes out, clinging tightly to the material of the shirt around Mingyu’s neck. The secure position does nothing to quench the swirling anxiety and nausea in his stomach and he fights the urge to close his eyes. 

The forest flies past them faster than his human eyes can follow, the wind biting at his exposed skin and stinging his corneas. Wind-burn tears gather and drip down his cheeks and if he wasn’t clinging on to Mingyu for dear life he would try to wipe them away before Mingyu got any dumb ideas like he was _crying_ over this. 

Still, his stomach churns again and he has a stray thought of "This seemed a lot more romantic in the movies" before he's croaking out Mingyu's name, drowned out by the rushing wind in his own ears but heard loud and clear by the vampire beneath him. 

Mingyu slows to a stop and lets Seungkwan off his back just in time to keel over and empty the contents of his stomach on the closest tree. He hears Mingyu approach him after a moment and then there’s a warm hand rubbing his back, right between the shoulder blades, like his oldest sister did when he had stomach bugs as a kid and spent the majority of the night curled over the toilet. 

Mingyu's palm is warm and comforting, grounding in its slow movements. As his stomach settles, Mingyu pats him once, twice before pulling away, and Seungkwan pretends he doesn't miss it immediately. 

"Sorry." He winces as his voice cracks. Mingyu just shakes his head, an amused smile on his lips.

"I should have warned you beforehand. I'm sorry." 

He opens his mouth, hesitates when he doesn’t really know what he was planning on saying, and wishes he’d never spoken when his next words are: "Have you really never read Twilight?" 

He clamps his mouth shut so forcefully the click is audible, willing the words to disappear from existence and take him with them. Mingyu's face scrunches up in a way Seungkwan has grown painfully familiar with. The "You like Twilight?" face, he's appropriately named it.

"That awful teen novel? God no."

"It's not awful." The defense slips off his tongue subconsciously. "The movies made it out to be worse than it actually was." 

"Right, sure." Mingyu laughs sarcastically, the sound making his skin flare hot in annoyance.

"You haven't even read it, how would you know?" He challenges, fully aware how immature he’s being.

“I don't need to, those vampire novels are all the same. You’ve read one, you’ve read them all.” 

Seungkwan bites his tongue to stop his retort. He’s had this conversation too many times on far too many online platforms and in loud classrooms, he knows by now the result is always the same. He swallows thickly and shoves his hands in his jacket to hide how they've started shaking. 

"Can we just go now?" He sighs.

Mingyu's raised eyebrows drop into a concerned furrow. "Are you sure you're okay? You did just throw up." 

Truthfully, his stomach is still rolling and his heart is racing but the faster he's around other people (the faster he's no longer alone with Mingyu) the better. 

"Yes." he lies. "Come on, let's go." 

 

☆ 

 

“Stop.” He grits out between clenched teeth, breathing through his nose. He wipes the corner of his mouth and stands up. “Stop looking at me like that.” 

Mingyu’s expression turns innocent. “Like what?” 

“Don't play dumb, you’re all-” He struggles for a second, “Schadenfreude right now.”

Mingyu laughs. “I don't think that's how you're supposed to use that word.”

“Whatever. You knew what I meant.” He grumbles. He brings a hand up to rub at his sore belly, wincing at another wave of nausea. “God what’s wrong with me.” He mumbles to himself. 

He sits carefully on a sturdy-looking log, uncaring that it’s slightly damp and getting his jeans wet. He brings his head down between his legs, focusing on the sound of Mingyu moving in front of him and leveling his own breathing. 

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence Mingyu clears his throat and Seungkwan startles to find him standing much closer than he expected. His hair brushes against the top of his back when he tilts his head back to glare at Mingyu, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes from the glaring sun.

“No offense,” Mingyu starts, looking every bit like he’s about to do the exact opposite of his words, “But you really don’t seem like the house party type.” 

Seungkwan’s mouth twists. “I'm not.” 

He shuffles down the log to give Mingyu room to sit down. 

“I was dragged there against my will.” He laments. “Worst mistake of my life.” 

Mingyu laughs, the sound strained. 

“Well, you sure knew how to enjoy yourself.” When he turns his head the sun catches on something in his mouth, drawing Seungkwan’s attention to the two blunt canines that hang out of his mouth slightly when he smiles. He distinctly remembers what they look like when they’re sharp fangs, the memory bringing a quick phantom pain to the palm of his left hand. When they’re like this, he thinks, all soft at the edges and unthreatening, they’re almost.. cute.

He derails that train of thought before it can get any more momentum. 

“What do you mean?” He asks. All of his memories of the night before have all but faded into a haze of dizziness and any memory he has of Mingyu is shrouded in a thick layer of fear and panic that he tries to avoid as much as possible, skirting around the edges but never getting close enough to grasp at anything significant.

“You were kind of a mess,” Mingyu laughs more naturally, “I'd be surprised if you remembered anything.” 

He looks far too delighted, like he’s in on a joke that Seungkwan has no idea exists.

"What do you know?” He squints, trying to look as threatening as possible. It mustn’t work, or Mingyu is just more aware of the fact that Seungkwan is at the bottom of the list of things that are a threat to his immortal life. 

"Nothing." He grins, holding his hands up in surrender. 

Seungkwan has the inexplicable urge to growl.

"Vernon." he near-shouts instead, left hand held out in anticipation. Vernon apparates immediately, sheepish grin already in place.

"In my defense," He says, withholding his laughter, "You've definitely said worse."

Seungkwan pretends to back hand him, secretly pleased when Vernon plays along.

“I'll get it out of you one day.” He puts on his best theatrical antagonist voice and points a threatening finger, dangerously close to Vernon’s right nostril. “Mark my words.”

“Of course.” Vernon nods sagely. “One anemone is enough.”  

Mingyu cackles and Seungkwan has the vague sense that he’s being fucked with. He all but growls at Vernon before shooing him away, face hot as Mingyu keeps laughing. 

“Are you sulking?” 

Seungkwan stubbornly keeps his eyes fixed on the tree a few feet away, rage simmering under his skin like a bubbling pot about to boil over. A beat passes.

“You know, you two remind me of someone.” 

The sudden topic change almost makes him forget to be mad. Almost. 

“Oh yeah?” He huffs. “Who?”

He chances a look at Mingyu to find him smiling softly, a nostalgic glint in his eyes. There’s something bittersweet on his face that taints his otherwise blissful demeanour and he feels his anger melt away into concern. A strong, instinctual part of him wants to know who is capable of making Mingyu seem so happy, and what might have happened to them to taint whatever memories Mingyu has of them. 

But Mingyu just shakes his head, smile growing into something else as he visibly shakes himself out of his reminiscing. “We should get going.”

He stands with a huff, brushing the dirt off the back of his jeans. Seungkwan, unsure what to say, silently joins him on his feet. 

“The barrier is about ten minutes away.” Mingyu explains. “Are you gonna be able to walk?”

The wording sparks a memory, so brief he almost misses it. A flash of Mingyu in the black leather jacket he was wearing at the party, his body angled like he was leaning over Seungkwan. He doesn't know what to make of it, but he can feel his ears go red on their own accord.

“I have two working legs.” He responds, far quieter than he intended. 

Mingyu giggles and turns to lead the way, Seungkwan falling into step beside him. He concentrates all his energy on navigating the uneven forest floor, legs slightly weak from disuse and the aftereffects of nausea. If Mingyu notices him stumbling a few times, he doesn’t say anything.

After a while of walking in silence Seungkwan starts to _feel_ as they get closer to the border. There’s a low thrum of energy in the air, tugging him closer, getting stronger with each step he takes. 

“What is that?” He asks without context. 

“Magic.” Mingyu replies, apparently knowing exactly what he's referring to.

“Oh. Of course.”   

It takes another couple of minutes of silently following the pull of magic before they can see the faint glowing between the trees ahead of them. As they get closer he can see where the barrier runs horizontally in both directions, cutting some trees completely in half.

The barrier itself is a little trippy. The only thing Seungkwan has to compare it to is liquid mercury - of which he has one experience with from a rather exciting science lesson in college. As they step closer he can spot the warbled reflection of the two of them, constantly moving with the way the barrier seems to shudder at their proximity. But as he looks closer he can spot trees that don't line up with the ones behind him and realises the barrier is slightly transparent. The whole thing glimmers silver in the sunlight, much like a mirror would.

“Well, judging by the look on your face, I'm assuming you can see the barrier.” Seungkwan realises he’s gaping and clicks his mouth shut. “Maybe you aren’t such a ‘normal human’ after all.” 

“And who’s fault is that?” He regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth, worries he’s gone too far. And really, that enough should be concerning since Seungkwan has learnt to stop caring about other people and Mingyu is a near _stranger_. Not to mention he killed him. That’s something he needs to keep reminding himself.

“Sorry.”Mingyu mumbles, still smiling. Seungkwan’s stomach twists and he does his best to ignore it. 

Without waiting for a reply, Mingyu turns and walks through the barrier. There’s a shudder and Mingyu’s body is outlined by bright silver until he’s completely through to the other side and Seungkwan is left by himself. 

Not wanting to spend another moment alone in an unfamiliar forest, he inhales deeply and steps up to the barrier. The magic seems to grow stronger for a moment, pleased at Seungkwan’s presence. he can feel it the strongest in his chest, and when he reaches out a curious hand his fingertips buzz where they touch the churning barrier. 

He steps through, the magic swirling around him. The reflections blur together with the forest beyond the barrier for a second before he puts his other foot out and crosses the threshold, successfully arriving at the other side.

“Feel any different?” Mingyu asks, caution evident on his face. 

He breathes in deeply, the scent of the forest the same as before, and exhales. He can still feel the magic from the barrier but when he looks back there’s no physical sign of one ever existing. He looks down at himself, feeling the same as before, and shakes his head. Mingyu visibly relaxes and nods once before turning to offer his back to Seungkwan again. 

“I promise I'll go slower this time.” He says as Seungkwan wordlessly wraps his arms over his shoulders. He hums, not really believing him, and prepares himself for the upcoming nausea, praying there’s something left in his stomach.

 

☆

 

He doesn’t know how long Mingyu’s been running for when he suddenly curses under his breath and doubles his speed. The sudden momentum startles him, having been focussing so resolutely on not being sick for a third time that he was unaware of his surroundings. 

“Hold on.” Mingyu yells over the wind, just loud enough that he catches it, and starts zig-zagging through the trees. He tightens his grip, heart in his throat making it difficult to demand answers for what the hell Mingyu is running from.

There’s a flash of silver in his peripheral and he finds somewhat of an answer in the head of an arrow burying itself in a tree, dangerously close to where Mingyu’s head was milliseconds earlier. 

“What’s going on?” He yells through the lump in his throat. 

“Seungkwan.” Mingyu says instead of answering. “I'm going to let go of your right leg and i need you to shift your weight to the left so you don't fall off.” 

His responding protest is cut off by Mingyu ducking down, pulling Seungkwan's body down with him, just in time to avoid another arrow. The sharp silver flies close enough to his head to catch on a few strands of hair. He makes a strangled noise and follows Mingyu’s instructions, squeezing his body as close to Mingyu’s as possible when he feels the support on his right leg disappear. 

Mingyu’s pace never falters as he lifts a hand to his mouth, his sunlight ring glinting. 

“I require a door.” Mingyu’s voice is low and muffled by the wind rushing in Seungkwan’s ears but he swears that's what he says, spoken directly into the ring held against his lips. 

An arrow brushes against the skin of Seungkwan’s hip, cold metal biting through soft skin, just as a huge, sparkly blob of magic appears out of thin air right in front of them. It’s swirling around on itself, shimmering green and gold. He swears he spots a faint image of rolling green fields before Mingyu pushes forward and they go flying directly into it. It’s much like walking through the barrier was, except ten times faster, the forest fading into a large sunflower field within a blink, the grass up to Mingyu’s waist. He feels a faint buzz of magic before the sparkly blob disappears, one final arrow making it through but burning up before it reaches the other side.

Mingyu lets the grass slow his movements until he’s coming to a stop, letting Seungkwan clamber off his back. He collapses into the grass, a wave of vertigo and the disorientation of the sudden travel making his legs weak. 

“What..” He breathes heavily like he’s been the one doing all the running. “..was that?” 

Mingyu stares down at him, chewing on his bottom lip. It’s distracting.

Wonwoo’s voice reaches them, effectively cutting off Mingyu’s reply and causing the vampire to grimace. 

“What the hell were you thinking?” Wonwoo yells, appearing in a flash and shoving Mingyu none-too-kindly. “You know how dangerous it is to use portals, why would you risk that?” 

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “We were being chased.” He explains, calmer than Seungkwan would have expected. 

“So outrun them, dumbass.” Wonwoo crosses his arms, every bit the stern parental figure. “You don’t take stupid risks like that-”

“They were hunters.” Mingyu says, voice quiet. Seungkwan’s heart rate picks up again. It makes sense, he supposes, with the silver arrows and apparent vampire speed. But why were they chasing them in the first place? 

Wonwoo falters, lecture forgotten. “Hunters?” He asks, confused. “What the hell do the hunters want with y-...” 

Wonwoo’s head snaps to Seungkwan on the ground and the pieces click into place.

“They must have been waiting for us near the border.” Mingyu explains. “They probably think he’s one of us.”

“But you said that was impossible.” Seungkwan argues, thoughts racing. 

“It is.” Mingyu agrees. “But they’ll know you died so they’ll just assume Yuta changed you.”

There are a lot of questions to ask from that one sentence alone. Unfortunately, Wonwoo interrupts him before he can ask any of them. 

“You’re hurt.” He directs at him, eyes on his hip where the arrow caught him just before they went through the portal. He glances down at it, the wound barely visible through the small tear in his jeans. It throbs slightly but is otherwise unpainful, a thin layer of blood gathering at the deepest parts. Even as he sits there he can feel the cut starting to heal, the pain dulling the harder he focuses on it.

“Well, you’re definitely not a vampire.” Wonwoo hums, crouching down to get a better look at the wound. “If you were you’d probably be screaming right now.” 

“Silver?” He hazards a guess and gets a nod in return. “Huh.”

Mingyu shifts beside him, a harmless shuffling of feet, but it activates his fight or flight response. His hand comes up to cover the wound, frantically scanning Mingyu for any sign of an impending attack. 

But Mingyu doesn’t seem to have noticed. His eyes remain an innocent brown, expression half concerned half annoyed. He finally senses Seungkwan’s gaze and startles when his eyes flick down to his hip for a second.

“Oh I- I swear I didn't even notice.” He brings his hands up, head shaking rapidly. “I have self control, I promise I won't hurt you.” 

“Come on.” Wonwoo interrupts, effectively ending the conversation and Mingyu’s rambling. “Let’s get you inside, you’re bleeding all over the sunflowers.”

He spares one last wary glance back at Mingyu before accepting Wonwoo’s offered hand, the vampire pulling him to his feet slightly too rough and causing him to stumble rather gracelessly, trampling a few sunflowers on his way. 

 _“Watch it!”_ Vernon scolds. _“Those flowers are delicate.”_

“Yeah, so am I.” He grumbles, ignoring the looks he’s sent as he stalks past the two vampires. He’s still a little dazed from the portal but he somehow manages to walk in a straight line and navigates his way out of the field, Wonwoo and Mingyu talking quietly behind him. 

The edge of the field runs along the outside of the village, a cobbled pathway leading them straight through to the end of a quiet street. Wonwoo overtakes him to lead the way through the streets lined with buildings of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Each is as unique as the next; a wooden beach shack next to a giant greenhouse next to a hut made entirely of leaves and flowers. Each has its own distinct character; a messy collection of aesthetics that should clash horribly but somehow look perfect together. 

The fae roaming the streets give them curious glances as they pass, but otherwise leave them be. Seungkwan tries his hardest not to stare, eyes sticking to bright hair and eyes and flowery skin for what he considers an acceptable amount of time before darting away to the next. As far as he can tell from the fae he sees they all have the same matching hair and pupil-less eyes. Their skin is all different shades of green, some with flowers growing up their forearms like Soonyoung but most with an assortment of plants and leaves instead. Oddly enough, Seungkwan doesn’t catch a single speck of glitter, and wonders if that’s just a Soonyoung thing.

“This is so… wow.” He whispers under his breath for Vernon to hear.

 _“Yeah.”_ Vernon sounds just as breathless. _“Wow.”_

“If this is a dream-” Vernon pinches him in the side before he can finish his sentence and disapperates before he can retaliate, a teasing laugh filling his head as he huffs in annoyance.

He narrowly avoids tripping over a girl who runs in front of him as he’s grumbling to himself. She’s a fierce little thing with plum coloured pigtails on either side of her face. She sticks her tongue out as she runs off, purple wings fluttering behind her. 

Rude, he thinks.

He doesn’t realise he’s fallen behind until he turns back and spots Wonwoo up ahead, an impatient look on his face, and he hurries to catch up. He mumbles an apology that gets either ignored or brushed off as Wonwoo continues leading them down the street, Mingyu quietly trailing close behind. They’re lead to a small cottage nestled between two other buildings. It’s tall and thin like someone took a normal cottage and squashed it into two stories. A small balcony hangs above the door, completely covered in pots and hanging baskets of greenery. It’s quaint and almost exactly what Seungkwan expected of a fairy residence. 

He feels giddy as Wonwoo forgoes knocking and opens the door, holding it open as Mingyu brushes past him and leveling Seungkwan with an amused stare when he takes a moment to breathe before following. 

When he steps into the house he’s hit with the strong scent of earth and something sweet and floral he can’t put a name to. It’s just as cosy on the inside as the exterior had promised, logs in a small fireplace ready to be lit once the sun goes down and the coolness of night approaches. 

Soonyoung is sprawled out in front of the fireplace on a large brown rug, bare toes bouncing off the ground with a dull thud as he kicks his legs. His head is buried in a book, pink eyebrows pinched in concentration.

Wonwoo rushes over to climb on top of him, legs either side of his hips, and plants his ass right in the dip of his spine, forcing the air from his lungs. Despite the low grunt Soonyoung lets out at the sudden weight, his face lights up and he somehow manages to turn his head around far enough to steal a kiss from Wonwoo before flipping a page and continuing reading unbothered. 

Seungkwan checks to see if Mingyu caught that, only to find him smiling fondly. Based on Mingyu’s reaction, this must be a common occurrence.

“Chan!” Mingyu calls after rolling his eyes at how Wonwoo’s chest is now glued to Soonyoung’s back as he reads over his shoulder. There’s rustling off to the side where there’s a small kitchen area and a head of sky blue pops out from behind the wall separating the two rooms. 

“Mingyu!” a boy, young and thrumming with energy, eyes as bright as his hair, runs out of the kitchen to tackle Mingyu in a hug. Mingyu lets out a low “oof” as he catches him, laughing and ruffling his hair fondlybin greeting. 

“Oh! The human?” Chan's baby blue eyes are focused on Seungkwan now, only slightly unsettling. Chan pulls himself away from Mingyu, extending a green hand out. Chan's skin does actually glitter like Soonyoung’s does and Seungkwan makes a mental note to ask about that later. 

“I'm Chan.” The fae introduces himself, grinning widely.

“I'm Seungkwan, it’s nice to meet you.” He replies on autopilot, feeling slightly dazed. He can _feel_ the energy (magic?) buzzing off of Chan’s skin when they shake hands and his lips curl up involuntarily. He likes this kid. 

 _“I like this kid.”_ Vernon, unknowingly, echoes and Seungkwan holds back a snort. _“Can we keep him?”_

“Is it true you’re like, possessed?” Chan asks, eyes curious, and Seungkwan can’t help but laugh.

“Not exactly.” He sticks his left hand out and Vernon takes it right away, already grinning when his physical form appears.

“Hi. I'm Vernon.” He waves awkwardly. Chan grins and waves back. Seungkwan can already see the myriad of questions swarming behind his eyes. He mentally prepares himself for another long session of trying to answer questions he doesn’t have answers to, wordlessly mourning the nap he’ll have to sacrifice.

“Are you hungry?” Mingyu interrupts his thoughts, bringing attention to the emptiness of his stomach. 

“As a horse.” He says just as his stomach makes the noise of something from the deepest pits of hell. His face flushes red and Mingyu laughs, grabbing his unoccupied hand to drag him into the kitchen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hh sorry this was delayed i wanted it to be up last week but i got sick ://////
> 
> also uni has started now so depending on my work load during the tri updates will probably get slower from here on out especially since i wanna focus most of my energy on finishing a full draft of this story more than posting new chapters so theres no discontinuity or anything in later chapters! i hope yall can understand ;;
> 
> anyway! enjoy and pls tell me what you think... us fic writers survive off of validation


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Where’d you go?” He demands. 
> 
> “To get a drink?” Mingyu giggles. His face is flushed - as much as possible for an undead, he supposes, which is really just enough to make him look alive. “Why?” Mingyu continues, “Did you miss me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this chapter was worth the wait ^^

Im Nayoung, according to Soonyoung, is the oldest living fae in the village, and a lot nicer than she looks, he swears. These are the words Seungkwan tries to keep on a loop in his head as they make their way to where the leader of the fae village resides (on the outskirts of the town in a giant greenhouse, because of course) in the hopes that with enough repetitions, it'll eventually calm his nerves.

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. 

His hands are shaking by the time they reach the long, winding path up to Nayoung's house, nestled in the side of a hill and almost entirely obscured by trees. He’s not usually this nervous meeting new people but, well, he blames it on being the furthest from his comfort zone he's ever been. He misses his bed. 

Tinkling bells announce their arrival and the frosted glass front door swings open.  

Seungkwan takes one look at Nayoung and feels his knees go weak. Her eyes are piercing and completely white. It’s hard to tell without pupils where exactly she’s looking but Seungkwan is certain she’s staring straight at him; through to his soul-bond, tearing him apart cell by cell with her eyes. 

"Hey Nayoungie!!" He can feel the exact moment her eyes leave him. A weight on his chest lifts and he inhales desperately. Chan bumps into him in his excitement, bodily throwing himself into Nayoung's arms, and a small smile finds its way onto Nayoung’s stony expression. 

"Sorry, we should have warned you; Nayoung is pretty intense." Mingyu has to lean down to reach Seungkwan’s height and that fact alone breaks him out of whatever making eye contact with Nayoung just did to him. "Try to avoid eye contact, she won’t be offended." 

Mingyu hums and gently nudges Seungkwan towards the door. Seungkwan waves him off with a huff and a scowl and Mingyu laughs, shutting the door behind them with a soft click. The interior is flourishing shades of green, a huge open space with vines crammed into every corner. Seungkwan is careful to watch his step as they’re led through narrow aisles into new rooms as full of life as the last. Mingyu isn’t nearly so careful and almost eats floor twice, only stopped by Wonwoo’s foresight to walk behind him and grab him every time he stumbles. 

They reach the final room; with white wood paneling and a wall of bookshelves, the room looks like a modern study planted in the middle of the greenhouse. Nayoung is already pulling thick, dusty tomes off their shelves and stacking them on the crowded work bench. Soonyoung and Chan aren't present, and when Mingyu turns to close the door, Wonwoo has disappeared too. He really hopes Soonyoung wasn’t lying to him about Nayoung being trustworthy. 

"Soonie tells me you’re a death walker." She begins, eyes never leaving the tome in her hands. 

He’s thrown off by the sudden nickname, leaving an awkward pause before he remembers to respond. "Death walker?" He asks. 

"It's what we call anyone who's died and come back." Mingyu answers. He’s huddled close to an empty wall, arms crossed, looking very much like a spatially aware bull in a china shop. 

"Oh. Then yeah, I guess." He wonders how many creatures there are with that ability. How many of them are evil. 

"Let me see it." Nayoung still doesn’t look up. Seungkwan turns to Mingyu for help but he looks just as lost. He hovers awkwardly, opening his mouth to ask.

"The ring." She explains, tone bored. She holds a slender hand out, waiting. 

"Oh. Right." He approaches carefully and, hesitating only briefly, places his hand in hers. 

"This isn’t fae." She says it like this is old news, like the thought has been in her head for a while. "There’s not much I can tell you about it except that it’s old."

"How old?" Mingyu asks. 

"Ancient." She hesitates. "The magic in it…" 

"What is it?" 

"I haven't seen magic this strong and unstable since the gods walked the earth." Mingyu’s mouth opens on soundless words, eyes wide in disbelief. 

"Are you saying…?"

Nayoung turns back to Seungkwan and he freezes when their eyes meet. "I don’t know how the hell you managed to stumble your way into the eye-line of a deity but this ring is no joke. Someone up there has got plans for you." 

Seungkwan's head spins. "Me?" He sputters. 

"Wait but that's impossible. I thought the deities have been banned from earth for centuries?" Mingyu looks shaken and it doesn’t bode well for the fear already constricting Seungkwan's chest. 

"Guess they finally got bored." 

Realising that he’s essentially a play thing for divine beings isn’t a great feeling. Wednesday morning existential crises aren’t exactly abnormal for him, but this one feels a little bit too much.

"So, what, the ring is some sort of, of,  _ brand _ the gods have put on me?" 

"No. That ring is far more than that. It’s protection, primarily. But you have magic, Seungkwan, and if you could learn to harness it, I believe that ring could be a very, very powerful weapon." 

Magic. That’s definitely too much.

"No I’m- I don’t have magic." Soonyoung had briefly explained how magicals could detect the magic of other creatures, could see it like an aura or feel it like static in the air. Subjectively, he knows Nayoung is very old and very powerful but she has to be wrong about this. 

Nayoung tilts her head, calculating. "You have that soul, don't you?" 

It takes him a beat to get it. "I have Vernon, yeah, but that's hardly magic is it?" He bites his tongue, thoughts racing.  _ Isn't it? _

Nayoung sighs. "That magic is of no use to you until you accept that it's there. I highly suggest you figure that out before whatever the gods have planned for you begins." It's a dismissal and the tome in her hands flips closed. 

"I'm sorry I couldn’t be of more help. I'll send my feelers out, see if any of the other elders know anything. For now all I can offer is some final advice." She turns to face the space between him and Mingyu, eyes darting between them both. To Mingyu she says, "Whatever this is, you're a part of the plan as much as he is." To Seungkwan, she says, "Trust is vital and vulnerability is a strength. Put trust in your assets and learn to be vulnerable." 

His face burns, with indignation or embarrassment, but Nayoung herds them out of the room before he can respond. It's not difficult to get lost in his thoughts after that and he can feel an ache begin to form right behind his eyes. There's a lot to think about. His head feels too small to hold everything. 

“What now?” He asks Mingyu as they make their way back through the house, searching for the others.

Mingyu shrugs. “We carry on.” 

 

☆

 

With nothing else to do, and two days till they can safely travel to their next destination, Seungkwan finds himself dressed in borrowed clothes and on his way to a party. 

A  _ fae _ party.

"We don’t really have clubs like you humans do," Soonyoung is explaining, gold wings fluttering with excitement, "But Kyla throws some solid full moon parties." 

"Full moon parties?" 

"Oh yeah!" Soonyoung visibly lights up, hovering slightly with the force of his wings now, "Seungkwan, the full moon is a big deal over here. The wolves aren’t the only night children that get to have fun once a month." He winks. Seungkwan doesn’t know how to unpack that statement, and thinks it’s probably best not to.

“Just don’t drink anything.” Mingyu warns, looking slightly nauseous and like he's been through war.

“Noted.”

Truthfully the last thing he wants is to get any sort of intoxicated, even if curiosity is rubbing up against him, demanding attention the way cats do. It's just- they’re fae drinks. Who knows what fun, slightly life endangering things could happen if he just forgot his self preservation for once and took a sip? He won’t, but he can’t say it’ll be easy to resist once they’re within arms reach.

“Boooooo.” Soonyoung heckles and finally starts walking again. His wings continue to flutter, but lazy and comfortable now. 

Vernon is deep in conversation with Chan when Seungkwan turns to him, the young fae evidently knowing next to nothing about humans besides what Soonyoung has told him.

“Is it true that human governments are run by lizards?” 

“Only some of them.” Vernon replies, nodding sagely. Seungkwan has to bite his tongue to hold back his laughter, especially as Chan nods and accepts the answer with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Hey, Seungkwan?” He turns to Mingyu on his other side.

“Yes?” 

“I know I already asked but are you sure you want to come with us?” Mingyu’s concern is like his personality; loud and sincere. He's looking at Seungkwan like he's seeing through him, through all the layers of impassiveness he's been trying to rebuild haphazardly to mask just how out of his depth he feels. 

“I'm fine.” It’s a half truth. He  _ feels _ fine, currently, with Vernon's hand in his and a world of imagination brought to life around them. Doesn’t mean he is fine, though. 

He waves his hand, trying to physically wave away the weird tension that Mingyu’s concern brought on. “I've got a big strong vampire to protect me.” 

He slaps Mingyu on the arm, to clear the air or vent his frustration, who knows, and regrets it when his hand comes away stinging and Mingyu barely flinches. But it leaves a mark and Mingyu’s pouting so he’s got some satisfaction. 

“That’s right,” He hears the smirk in Mingyu’s voice, then rough knuckles are rubbing against his head. “Your big strong vampire bodyguard will protect you from those scary enchantments.” 

He yells indignantly, pulling away and swatting at whatever body parts he can reach while Mingyu giggles above him. He turns away, partly to ignore Mingyu but mostly to hide how flushed his cheeks are. 

“We’re here!” Soonyoung yells way louder than necessary. Wonwoo lovingly tells him to shut up and tugs them both towards the house party that’s somehow too large to contain in the plant covered mansion in front of them. Part of the house leads into a large greenhouse the size of an observatory, multi-coloured fairy lights (oh, the irony) decorating the large dome, tangled in leaves of green. Through the glass they can see all the party-goers already there, gold drinks in hand and multi-coloured skin glistening as they dance along to muffled party music. 

A wave of fear creeps up Seungkwan’s spine as they climb the moss-covered stairs to the front door. He squeezes Vernon’s hand and lets himself be led through the house, trying and failing not to think of how his last house party ended. 

They don’t end up in the party room, surprisingly. Instead Soonyoung leads them further through the winding hallways, away from the noise till they’re bursting through glass patio doors and- oh. This is much better.

The backyard is huge. The trees of the forest surrounding the village merge with garden archways and quaint outdoor furnishings, making it impossible to tell where private property ends and public domain begins. It reminds Seungkwan of the garden centre cafes his family visited often when he was growing up; modern furnishings hidden within lush greenery, topped with more strings of fairy lights to make the area feel warm and inviting. The music here is softer, the whole atmosphere a weird contrast to the excitement on the other side of the house. 

Which is why Seungkwan finds it so weird that Soonyoung, bright and outgoing and loud, decided to bypass all of that for somewhere so quiet. But ah, he thinks, as Wonwoo pulls them both towards a garden swing, smiling softly as he pulls Soonyoung on to his lap, now he gets it. Mingyu makes a gross noise in the back of his throat and turns to Seungkwan, his fingers brushing against Seungkwan’s hand softly. Absentmindedly. 

“Did you want anything? I'm gonna go find drinks.” Seungkwan shakes his head and tries to hold his hand still, tries not to draw attention to the way Mingyu’s fingers are stroking the skin of his wrist. Tries even harder to ignore how close they are to where teeth broke flesh.

“I'm fine.” Mingyu nods and heads back inside, Chan wordlessly following close behind. 

Feeling a little lost, he wanders with Vernon around the garden (in the opposite direction of the vampire and fairy currently living their best lives on an innocent garden swing) and finds a large tunnel of archways made of tangled vines and leaves, a perfectly green path right down the middle. Soft golden lights flicker around the area, freely floating, like fireflies but brighter and charged with something he’s finally learning to recognise as magic. 

“What’s that?” Vernon asks suddenly, eyes glued to something at the end of the tunnel. Seungkwan squints but can’t see anything. 

“What’s what?” Vernon doesn’t answer and starts walking as if in a trance, unblinking. His eyes, as hard to tell in the dim lighting and with as little actual physical presence as Vernon’s corporeal form has, look glazed over. 

“Vernon?” He tugs on their hands, trying to stop Vernon from getting any closer, but Vernon doesn’t even hesitate as he tries to wrench his hand free, a few fingers coming loose. Seungkwan scrambles to keep their hands together, a phantom cold sting plucking at their soul bond-

“Vernon stop!” He yells and physically places himself in the way, blocking Vernon’s sight of whatever it was he was looking at. He has Vernon’s hand clutched between both of his own, clenched so tight if Vernon were human it’d surely hurt. Seungkwan watches with something like trepidation burning cold in his stomach as Vernon blinks a few times. Blinks himself out of a daze. Something in his chest feels dislodged, a cold draft through the cracks of a door.

“What?” Vernon says.

“What do you mean “what”? What just happened?”  

“Nothing.” Vernon says, frowning. Then, “I don't know.” Seungkwan waits. “There was something back there. I don't know why but I wanted to follow it. I felt like it was important.” 

“I think we should head back.” Is all Seungkwan can find to say, and Vernon nods without looking back. He shakes off the feeling of being watched and chalks it up to his overactive imagination.

When they return, Wonwoo is sitting cross-legged in the garden swing, stoic as ever, Soonyoung nowhere to be found, nursing a cup of dark red. 

“Do I want to know?” 

“Cranberry juice.” Wonwoo answers, grinning. Seungkwan scrunches his nose up anyway. 

“The others are inside.” Wonwoo continues, smile dimming, eyes calculating, scrutinising Seungkwan’s reaction. "You alright?"

"Huh?" Seungkwan asks. His voice comes out breathless and he realises he probably looks spooked. "Oh yeah just. Saw a spider." 

He glances at the glass doors, looks back at Wonwoo

“Are you coming?” 

“Parties aren’t actually my scene but Soonyoung gets awful clingy when he’s drunk." Seungkwan thinks of the way Soonyoung seems permanently attached to Wonwoo when he's  _sober_ and shudders, wondering how that can somehow get worse. "He's pretty much the only reason I come to these.”

That may be the sweetest thing he's ever heard. Absolutely disgusting.

Anyway, he’s not quite up to the level of social interaction required for a house party - not to mention whatever extra turmoil the fae aspect of the party will throw into the mix - but Vernon hasn’t quite lost that dazed look in his eye and the forest behind him seems darker than when they arrived, in a way that has nothing to do with the fading sunlight.

“Is it okay if I go?” 

Wonwoo waves him off, ‘cranberry juice’ barely shifting with the movement. Damn vampire agility. He starts to get to his feet but Seungkwan waves him off.

"It's okay I can go by myself. I'll send Soonyoung your way when I find him."

Wonwoo looks like he wants to protest but Seungkwan's smile must look at least somewhat reassuring because, after a moment of consideration, he settles back into the chair.

"Alright. Just don't touch or drink anything."

 

☆

 

“No we just came from there.” Vernon impatiently tugs him in the opposite direction. Seungkwan’s head spins with the lack of fresh air and he tries to keep his bearings as Vernon takes over. He doesn’t know how long they’ve spent navigating the crowded hallways, narrowly avoiding having his eyes poked out by stray wings and gold beverages spilled down his shirt, but he’s pretty sure the house has gotten bigger. 

“You’re just shit with directions.” Vernon had said, sidestepping a party-goer rushing to the bathroom with practiced ease. Seungkwan hadn’t dignified that with a response. They both knew he was right.

The heavy bass starts to transition from a deep rumble to actual sound which means they must be making some sort of forward progress. Surely enough, Vernon tugs them around another corner and they’re hit by a wall of sound and an overly sweet and sticky floral aroma. They’ve finally managed to find the main party room, much darker now that the dim fairy lights are the only source of light. Seungkwan immediately spots a tall figure lumbering through the crowd and recognises it as Mingyu, holding three glasses precariously over his head, gold liquid dripping over the sides in thick, glittery droplets. His head tips back in a laugh, blunt canines glinting in the dim light. Seungkwan’s face twists and he marches his way into the sea of bodies. For someone as subtle in a crowd as a tree on a barren hill, it’s ridiculously easy to lose sight of Mingyu once he’s deep in the mass. So Seungkwan gets lost in the middle of the dance floor, trying to navigate his way through. When he’s eventually spat back out on the other side of the room, he finds Chan and Soonyoung chatting with a group of fae, Mingyu nowhere in sight. They’re perched on swings, feet at Seungkwan’s eye level, laughing loudly over a story Soonyoung is telling. Their drinks float around them, still within reach but when Soonyoung's gesticulations get rather animated his drink floats up and over his arm without spilling a drop. 

“Hey!” He yells, trying to get their attention. 

"Heyyy Not-Human!" Soonyoung drawls once he notices him, voice cutting through a quiet dip in the music. He’s drunk -  _ are fae drinks technically alcoholic? _ \- face flushed a darker shade of his hair. His seat trembles as he flops around to hang his head off the edge. Seungkwan stumbles back but holds his arms out on reflex, warily eyeing the swing that wont stop shaking. "Come drink and be gay!" 

“Ooh that’s him?” A voice drawls from the adjacent swing. The owner is a fae with green piercing eyes and a jawline to kill. He’s intimidating, right up until the moment his cheeks bunch up and he throws his head back, giggling up to the ceiling. Then he reaches a slender, bony hand down and catches Seungkwan’s cheek between his thumb and forefinger. He pulls and prods at the flesh until it hurts and Seungkwan ducks his head to detach him. 

“Aww look. Taeyong likes you.” Mingyu sidles up to him, appearing out of absolutely nowhere, lips pulled into a teasing grin. Seungkwan shoves him.

“Where’d you go?” He demands. That’s not at all what he meant to ask but, he realises, the edge of a crowded dance floor isn't exactly the best time nor place for that conversation.

“To get a drink?” Mingyu giggles. Belatedly, Seungkwan notices the half-empty glass in his hand. There’s a golden stripe down the front of his shirt from where he must have spilled it earlier. His face is flushed - as much as possible for an undead, he supposes, which is really just enough to make him look alive. “Why?” Mingyu continues, “Did you miss me?”

He laughs directly in Seungkwan’s ear. Seungkwan flinches away with the sudden volume, brain temporarily short circuiting at the puff of air on his neck. 

“You were gone for half an hour. How are you already this drunk?” 

Mingyu shakes his head, lips pulling into a dangerous pout. “’m not drunk.” He mumbles. Seungkwan feels like he’s just kicked a puppy. Still, Mingyu's face is getting greener by the second and he's got a heavy hand over his stomach.

“Come on.” Seungkwan shoves him none-too-gently back towards the crowd, ignoring the catcalls from Soonyoung's friends. 

"Shouldn't we go after them? Wonwoo said-"

"He'll be fine. Mingyu's with him." 

Soonyoung and Chan's voices are drowned out as they reenter the crowd. Mingyu stumbles through the moving bodies, graceless as ever, giggling to himself the whole time. Seungkwan directs them back towards one of the countless doors they passed earlier, letting out a small sound of victory when he pushes one of them open to reveal a vacant bathroom. He directs Mingyu towards the toilet, making sure he's kneeling and somewhat stable before turning back and locking the door behind them. 

Mingyu is staring at the toilet bowl when he turns back around. 

"Do you need me to hold your hair back?" Seungkwan asks, laughing.

Mingyu frowns. In the fluorescent bathroom lighting he looks even more sickly, but he makes no move to lean over the toilet bowl. 

"No." He answers a beat late. His eyes squeeze closed for a moment and Seungkwan braces himself, stomach already rolling in sympathy. But after a few moments his eyes flutter open, hand dropping from where it had been pressing against his stomach and taking a deep inhale. "'m okay now."

He pulls himself up to sit on the edge of the bathtub and Seungkwan quickly sits next to him. He doesn't think Wonwoo would be very forgiving, nor helpful, if Mingyu ended up with a concussion. 

"Are you sure?" Mingyu still looks green but he’s got a small, happy smile on his face now. His eyes are closed and he looks seconds away from passing out, a small nod the only indication he heard Seungkwan at all.

"Hey." He jabs Mingyu in the thigh when his eyes remain closed. "You can’t sleep here." 

Mingyu's eyes finally blink open, slow like it's an actual effort. Which, given his current state, must be true. Dazed brown eyes find his own and widen. 

"Seungkwan!" Mingyu yells suddenly. "Heyyy," and then he drapes himself across Seungkwan’s lap. He struggles under the sudden weight but somehow manages to stop them both from catapulting into the tiny bathtub behind them. He barely holds himself back from shoving Mingyu onto the floor. 

"What?" he asks, sounding less irritated and more like he’s trying not to laugh.

Instead of responding, Mingyu buries his face in the crook of Seungkwan's neck. Flashes of images and a phantom sting make his pulse skyrocket, unable to stop himself from thinking about that night. Mingyu inhales, slow and deep, and this time Seungkwan does shove him away. 

"Get off me." His voice breaks when he notices Mingyu’s fangs are out, his eyes starting to swirl the bright amber colour again. "I'm going to get Wonwoo." 

He doesn’t look back as he storms out of the bathroom and can only start to relax once he hears the door shut safely behind him. 

_ "Seungkwan, breathe."  _

He turns the third corner from the bathroom before he listens to Vernon. The breath he takes is shaky and more of a gasp than anything, but it manages to clear his fuzzy head enough to think over the panic. His whole body is trembling and he doesn’t protest Vernon’s suggestion to "take it easy", which is Vernon speak for "sit down and breathe before you pass out, dumbass." He finds a small alcove with a single chair and table to sit at and focus on his breathing.

"You okay?" He looks up. There’s someone, a fae, hovering over him. He recognises them as the grumpy-looking blonde that was sitting with Soonyoung and Chan. He's hyper-aware of the fact that he's sweating and breathing faster than normal and his cheeks heat up even further in embarrassment. Still, he nods. There's nothing he can say to redeem himself now. 

"You sure?" The fae's expression morphs into a frown. "Do you uh, want a drink?" They hold their cup out, the familiar gold liquid sloshing over the rim with the movement. 

His throat is dry from all the gasping, tongue heavy in his mouth. And whoever this fae is they’re friends with Soonyoung and Chan so they’re at least somewhat trustworthy. Still, he hesitates. He's about to turn down the offer when the fae cuts him off. 

"It's like really diluted so it won't do anything weird. But you look like you need it dude." And, well, if they insist.

He pauses with the rim of the cup pressed to his lips. The drink doesn’t smell like anything in particular, which is either a good or a bad sign. He cautiously takes a sip. It doesn’t burn on the way down like he was expecting it to; it's actually really smooth and soothes the burning in his throat substantially, even with the small amount he had. 

Nothing happens for a moment. Footsteps approach from Seungkwan’s right. the aftertaste of the drink is sweet turning sour on his tongue.

"Renjun have you seen-" 

There’s a tense pause and the cup is snatched from his hand. A sharp nail scratches the skin of his thumb making him let out a sharp hiss. "Did you drink this?" 

Wonwoo turns back to Renjun before Seungkwan can respond. A spike of fear floods through him at the look on Renjun's face, lips pulled into an amused grin, watching Seungkwan with something that makes him feel like a caged animal. Whatever concern he had had for Seungkwan had been fake, he realises, and remembers how tricky Seelie can be. He should have known.

"If you know what's good for you you'll go find Soonyoung and tell him what you've done." Wonwoo sneers. His voice is icy, sends chills running down Seungkwan's arms, but Renjun is unphased. If anything, his grin has widened. 

"You vamps are no fun." Renjun whines. He sends Seungkwan a parting once-over before huffing and disappearing back down the hall. Wonwoo turns on him before Renjun's footsteps have faded.

"Has your common sense been compromised?" Wonwoo almost yells, glaring at Seungkwan. "Do you enjoy being babysat?" 

Seungkwan feels like shit, and, not for the first time, he despises how sensitive he is because it means he has to use all of his energy into making sure the wobble of his lower lip isn't noticeable, nor the way he's trying to keep his breathing shallow. 

"Where's Mingyu?" Wonwoo continues when Seungkwan stays quiet. 

"He's-" He stops when his voice breaks, clears his throat once, twice, "Bathroom." 

He clears his throat again, blinks rapidly to get rid of the build up around his tear ducts. Wonwoo's face softens a fraction and he knows he's been caught. 

"Are you okay?" Wonwoo asks. 

Seungkwan nods. Wonwoo sighs.

"How much did you have?" 

"Not that much." He whines. "It was barely even a drop. I'm sorry I wasn't thinking but I was desperate and I had just-" He sputters for a second, brain short circuiting, backtracking, "I was just- really thirsty. But I feel fine, nothing happened see?"

He stands and does a spin, trying to prove that whatever Wonwoo and Soonyoung and Mingyu had been so worried about hadn’t happened. Wonwoo catches him by the wrist. 

"Yet." Wonwoo stresses. Seungkwan opens his mouth to argue but is cut off by Soonyoung stumbling around the corner with a very floppy Mingyu draped between him and Chan, like heavy curtains down to its last hooks. He's giggling to himself, head tucked into his chest and as blissed out as he was when Seungkwan left him. 

"Hey buddy, how ya feelin’?" Soonyoung asks, voice teasing. 

"I’m fine." He whines. He nudges Soonyoung away when he pulls the curtain rail trio towards him and starts making grabby hands for the closest body part he can reach. 

"Should we take him to Nayoung?" Chan asks.

"We wouldn't make it there in time." Wonwoo says, eyes never leaving Seungkwan. He resembles the stray cat that hung around Seungkwan’s family's backyard, perched on the fence watching the birds in the tree by his bedroom window. Tail flicking, patiently waiting, always watching. He shudders. At least the birds could fly.

"What'll happen to me?" Seungkwan asks, fearing the worst.

"Best case scenario; nothing. Worst case scenario; Vernon will finally have a friend his own species." Soonyoung giggles.

"Oh. Fantastic." 

_"Hey, if it makes you feel better,"_ Vernon laughs, completely unconcerned about Seungkwan's potential impending doom, _"it's not that bad being dead."_

Seungkwan doesn't respond to that, because he is starting to actually freak out a little bit. 

"Don’t listen to him." Chan cuts in with a Cheshire grin. "If it was toxic to you, you'd have been dead before you'd swallowed." 

There’s a pregnant pause, three sets of eyes watching Seungkwan and Seungkwan's eyes glued to the top of Mingyu's head. Mingyu's started humming happily under his breath, completely unaware of the tension around him as everyone waits for whatever is going to happen. His hair is a really nice colour, and looks unnaturally soft under the yellow lighting. He tilts his head slightly and his fringe falls into his eyes a little. His nose scrunches up in annoyance and Seungkwan has a fleeting thought that's too quick to catch and then his entire body lights up the every colour of the rainbow and the tension in the room snaps like a rubber band pulled to its limits. 

Soonyoung is the first to start laughing, a high pitched contagious thing that sets Chan off, and oh my god even Wonwoo is laughing now, head thrown back in absolute fucking delight. And Seungkwan can only laugh along, tension bleeding out in fits of laughter as a harmless spectrum dances across his skin. 

_"Wow."_ Vernon's deadpan voice interrupts. _"I can’t believe you got even gayer."_

His cheeks heat up at that, heart swelling with pride and the rainbow glows brighter. It runs up and down his exposed skin, a constant movement of colour bright enough to form a barrier a few centimetres thick, reaching for the darkest corners of the room. His whole body feels unnaturally warm, the heat radiating off his skin in waves of colour.

He hears more than sees movement from the curtain trio and when he finally lifts his eyes to the rest of the room, Mingyu is down and out for the count, entire weight on the two fae and head buried in his own chest, snoring softly. There’s a collective grunt from Mingyu's support pillars as his body slumps further towards the ground and Wonwoo starts ushering them towards the door upon Soonyoung's whine to "leave before Mingyu crushes him with his tree trunk limbs". Wonwoo wordlessly wedges himself between Soonyoung and the heavy lump formally known as Mingyu, earning himself a bright smile and a peck on the cheek. 

As they're leaving, Seungkwan catches a glimpse of the five of them in a floor length mirror; a vampire drunk off liquid pixie dust having his ass hauled through the winding corridors of a mansion by his stoic vampire friend and two tipsy faeries, while Seungkwan follows along like a sentient glow stick. He laughs, high pitched and hysterical, and follows the three of them round the next corner.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for everyone who left comments! i appreciated every single one of them and i'll try to get better at replying ;;

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos much appreciated! [twitter](https://twitter.com/transgyu?s=09) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/wuju_lbx) | [aesthetics thread](https://twitter.com/transgyu/status/1146746555900157952?s=09)


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